In this evening, two bodies of sound of the Freiburg music scene collide – they both comprise the same instruments but could not be more different in their musical directions. Ensemble Recherche teams up with the Philharmonic Orchestra of Freiburg in this concert. What happens, when a chamber ensemble with nine members works with a symphony orchestra of around 70 people? Does an asymmetry or field of tension arise, in which special qualities of each formation influence and inspire the other?

The evening opens with Murmurs by Rebecca Saunders, which was composed in 2009 for Ensemble Recherche. It dances on the verge of inaudibility: whispers, traction and breath – a fragile web of tension and silence. The sounds are not set; instead, they are ephemeral and always in motion.

The highlight of the evening is the premiere of a new piece by Mirela Ivičević, commissioned by the Freiburg Theatre. Both ensembles enter into a conversation with this piece. Ivičević accentuates the respective strengths of each ensemble and the contrasts between them, by creating a patchwork of different movements, in which the musicians of Ensemble Recherche play as soloists or in smaller subgroups, in contrast to the fullness oft he orchestra. The composer conceives of music as an energy-charged process, as a frictional surface – and finds a musical language, one which is especially suitable for a special exchange between two ensembles.

The finale of the concert is Béla Bartók‘s Suite The Miraculous Mandarin, interpreted by the Philharmonic Orchestra Freiburg- a work, which was already considered transgressive at the time of its premiere. till today, it is a symbol for the nexus of artistic radicality and cultural openness.

With works by
Béla Bartók, Rebecca Saunders and Mirela Ivičević* (UA)

*Composition commissioned by the Freiburg Theatre, made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation

ENSEMBLE RECHERCHE
Anja Clift, flute
Eduardo Olloqui, oboe
Shizuyo Oka, clarinet
Klaus Steffes-Holländer, piano
Christian Dierstein, percussion
Adam Woodward, violin
Sofia von Atzingen, viola
Åsa Åkerberg, violoncello
Lukas Nowok, sound design

PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA FREIBURG

André de Ridder, Musical direction

Tickets
available at Theater Freiburg.

In cooperation 
with the Freiburg Theatre

Supported by
Friends of Ensemble Recherche e. V.