Festive days of early music

Experiencing music history at work in one of its most decisive moments – at a period which, since the days of Johann Sebastian Bach, has been the most vitally important for our own era and during a phase of its development which has determined the music of our present times – nothing less than this is on offer to the audience of the Festive Days of Early Music between January 24th to February 24th, 2018.

Download the programme (pdf, German)

In Vienna, a revolution was sparked off which counts amongst the most momentous in the history of European music. The gigantic expansion of compositional possibilities, which characterises music today, was begun in this city and has influenced composers all over the world.

In four concerts at the Wiener Konzerthaus and at the Wien Museum as well as in three composers’ portraits in the intimate space of the ensemble’s rehearsal venue, the musicians of Klangforum Wien will present precious and rarely performed works from the years between 1908–1961.

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With music by Alban Berg, George Antheil, Hans Erich Apostel, Boris Blacher, Gottfried von Einem, Charles Ives, Ernst Krenek, Bohuslav Martinů, Conlon Nancarrow, Dora Pejačević, Silvestre Revueltas, Karl Schiske, Erwin Schulhoff, Arnold Schönberg and others.

The distance is too short.

Current events can therefore only be acknowledged, but hardly understood. To an even greater extent, this applies to contemporary music, which resists comprehension not only owing to the fact that we, as contemporary witnesses, are far too close in time, but also by defying any attempt at being translated into language. In truth, music cannot be expressed in words which, however, are the prime medium of our comprehension and realisation.

Encountering various manifestations of the musical avant-garde of the recent past during the first few weeks of the New Year, therefore, amounts not just to a special music festival. The FESTIVE DAYS OF EARLY MUSIC are also a resounding key for our understanding of the present: What was it that the innovators of our grandparents’ generation wanted to bequeath to us? What did they aim for, what were the hopes that motivated them? And what of all this actually came to fruition as part of their own creative accomplishments and in the lives of their descendants – that’s to say: in our own lives?

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Festive days of early music

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