Hommage à Klaus Huber

To mark the milestone birthdays of composers Klaus Huber (100), Arnold Schönberg (150) and Charles Ives (150), the symphony orchestra of the Bremen University of the Arts (HfK) will perform a concert under the direction of René Gulikers with the HfK Chamber Choir and the Early Music Vocal Ensemble and Instrumentalists on November 20, 2024, 7:30 pm, at the Glocke The program includes works by Klaus Huber, Arnold Schönberg, Charles Ives, João Lourenço Rebelo and Orlando di Lasso
 

The evening is entitled “Hommage à Klaus Huber” Jörg Birkenkötter, HfK Professor of Composition and Head of the Atelier Neue Musik, explains the composer's connections to the HfK Bremen: “Klaus Huber is one of the most important composers of the second half of the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century In addition to his significant compositional work, his extraordinary personality as a teacher was formative for a large number of direct and indirect students, who today continue to work in a wide variety of ways on shaping and developing a lively contemporary musical life
Although he was never officially a teacher at the HfK, Klaus Huber has always been and will continue to be a decisive influence on our work at the Atelier Neue Musik. It was a particular pleasure that Klaus Huber lived in Bremen with his wife, the composer and HfK professor Younghi Pagh-Paan. He continued to attend our concerts with great interest until the end of his life.

In 2014, the HfK Bremen had the honor of celebrating Huber's 90th birthday with his wonderful piano concerto 'Intarsi' in combination with the composers he particularly admired, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and Anton Webern, in a memorable and long-lasting concert.”

On the occasion of his 100th birthday, another important work by Klaus Huber illustrates his position in the context of new and early music: “Die Seele muss vom Reittier steigen...” (2002), a chamber concerto for violoncello, baryton, countertenor and 37 instrumentalists.
 

The program also includes Arnold Schönberg's “Ein Überlebender aus Warschau op. 46” (1947) and Charles Ives' “The unanswered question” (1908, revised 1930-1935). “Both certainly influenced Klaus Huber - as did almost all subsequent composers. But the difference is probably more important: Klaus Huber worked on overcoming or expanding the 12-tone system, which seemed increasingly rigid to him, partly through his studies of Arabic tonal systems,” explains Jörg Birkenkötter
And what connection does Huber have to early music? “He was,” says Birkenkötter, ”like Arnold Schönberg, a composer with a strong sense of tradition, but for this very reason he was not a traditionalist! His credo was to understand the music of the past and the present not as opposites, but as a unity. He referred to Orlando di Lasso in particular on several occasions.” He was born in Belgium and worked at the Munich court from 1557 until his death in 1594, as a singer, bandmaster and composer. His “Lamentatio prima à 5” (1585) will be performed.
 

The concert opens with the Lamentations of Jeremiah, “Lamentatio Jeremiae à 8” (1653), by the Portuguese court composer João Lourenço Rebelo.
 

Tickets for the concert are available here.
 

HfK orchestra concert “Hommage à Klaus Huber”
 

Day: November 20, 2024
 

Time: 19:30
 

Place: Glocke, Domsheide 6-8
 

Performers:
 

Katharina Rikus (vocals)
 

Jessica Ulusoy-Horsley (baryton)
 

Tanja Tetzlaff (violoncello)
 

Thomas Mohr (narrator)
 

Vocal ensemble and early music instrumentalists
 

Chamber Choir of the HfK Bremen under the direction of Detlef Bratschke
 

Symphony Orchestra of the HfK Bremen under the direction of René Gulikers
 

Program
 

João Lourenço Rebelo: Lamentatio Jeremiae à 8 (1653)
 

Arnold Schönberg: A Survivor from Warsaw op. 46 (1947)
 

Charles Ives: The unanswered question (1908, revised 1930-1935)
 

Orlando di Lasso: Lamentatio prima à 5 (1585)
 

Klaus Huber: “The soul must dismount from the mount...” (2002)