Muziekgebouw Amsterdam © Foppe Schut
Klangforum Wien, a regular at the Muziekgebouw, is arguably the finest new music ensemble in the world. Tonight, the group performs the world premiere of "The illuminated grid" by Catherine Lamb, an award-winning American composer who studied under James Tenney. Tuning and resonance play a major role in her work. While theoretically complex, the sophisticated processes Lamb sets in motion reach the ear as enchanting, multi-faceted clouds of sound that are constantly in flux.
And that’s right up Klangforum’s alley. Catherine Lamb once said about them: ‘It felt as if the ensemble operated as one organism.’ That will undoubtedly be the case in her own new work as well.
Klangforum pairs Lamb with the living legend György Kurtág, whose hundreth birthday earlier this year was celebrated grandly at the Muziekgebouw. With the 1980 song cycle "Die Botschaften des verstorbenen Fräulein R.V. Troussowa" Kurtág cemented his status as a world-class composer of truly exceptional calibre.
Supported by funds from the Austrian Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs (BMEIA).