Ensemble Ribörs performs early contemporary music
Concert with the Ribörs Ensemble, conducted by Prof. René Gulikers
“Have times changed?”
Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971): L’Histoire du Soldat (The Soldier’s Tale), Suite (1918)
Marche du soldat / Petits Airs au bord du ruisseau / Pastorale /
Marche royale / Petit concert / Trois danses (Tango - Valse - Ragtime) / Danse du diable / Grand chorale / Marche triomphale du diable
Sumi Kim — clarinet
Yi-Chi Chan — bassoon
Biel Pelfort — trumpet
Pug Andersen — Trombone
Sebastián Cartes — Percussion
Alvaro Córdova Luna — Violin
Fridtjof Springer — Double bass
Conductor: Prof. René Gulikers
“L’Histoire du soldat” marks a turning point in the development of modern music. In 1918, whilst Europe was still in the grip of the First World War, Stravinsky, in his Swiss exile, created a work that broke radically with the grand, late-Romantic orchestra. The compact instrumentation, the sharp rhythms and the collage-like style herald a new aesthetic: clear, dry, agile, almost chamber-musical and theatrical. The suite distils the essence of the original play: a soldier who sells his soul and attempts to make sense of the world at a time when moral and political foundations have been shaken. Stravinsky’s own flight from the war resonates in the music’s nervous energy and ironic detachment. Today, in a world once again marked by conflict and forced migration, ‘L’Histoire’ remains provocatively relevant. The work reminds us how art, even in times of upheaval, finds new forms to give voice to human vulnerability and resilience. (R. Gulikers)
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Olivier Messiaen (1908–1992): Quatuor pour la Fin du Temps (Quartet for the End of Time) (1941)
Liturgie de cristal / Vocalise, for the Angel announcing the end of Time / Abîme des oiseaux / Interlude / Praise to the Eternity of Jesus / Dance of Fury, for the seven trumpets / Fouillis d'arcs-en-ciel, for the Angel announcing the end of Time / Praise to the Immortality of Jesus
Xinjie Hu — clarinet
Colma Ní Bhriain — violin
Michele Mazzola — cello
Zirui Sheng — piano
Rehearsal director: Prof. René Gulikers
Olivier Messiaen’s *Quartet for the End of Time* is one of the defining works of the 20th century. Composed in 1941 in the Görlitz prisoner-of-war camp under extreme conditions, it combines spiritual vision with radical innovation in sound. For the unusual instrumentation – clarinet, violin, cello and piano (which arose from the musicians available in the camp) – he created soundscapes of great intensity, ranging from meditative stillness to visionary ecstasy. The work is based on a text from the Book of Revelation, yet Messiaen understands the ‘end of time’ not as a catastrophe, but as the transcendence of human time into another, eternal dimension. His music thus acquires a lasting relevance: in our present day, sadly once again marked by uncertainty, global crises and war, it becomes a reflection on hope, faith and the possibility of the transcendent – beyond destruction and transience. (J. Birkenkötter)
Important information
Admission is free.
