Time is often imagined as a river flowing from past through present into future. But in the languages of the Yolŋu, the indigenous people of Arnhem Land in northern Australia, a fourth tense exists: a grammatical form in which the three time divisions do not succeed but fold into one another.A time that does not pass, but persists – fundamentally contradicting the Western notion of beginning, middle and end.

It is this fourth tense that the composer LizaLim adopts as the central idea for a special project. Three ensembles from Freiburg come together – the Philharmonic Orchestra Freiburg, the Freiburger Barockorchester and Ensemble Recherche – each embodying a distinct layer of time: symphonic present, baroque past, contemporary future. In their interplay, something emerges that none of the three could bring about alone: a non-linear time that belongs to dream, poetry, and music.

Here, another perspective on the tipping points of our season emerges. Western thinking is shaped by the “point of no return” the mo-ment from which a development becomes irreversible. The Yolŋu conception of time, by contrast, never lets the past fully disappear – it remains active and present. This softness of time is not naivety, but a different form of resilience: the idea that healing and transformation stay possible within time.

To this monumental project, the Philharmonic responds with Gustav Mahler’s SymphonyNo. 1, “Titan” – equally monumental, and a clear turning point in music history. With this concert, chief conductor André de Ridder bids farewell to Freiburg. As a tireless advocate of contemporary music and a close friend of Ensemble Recherche, we extend our heartfelt thanks to him. We are certain that our paths will cross many more times as he embarks on the next chapters of his journey.

With works by

Liza Lim*, Gustav Mahler

*Composition commission by Theater Freiburg, made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung

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
N.N., Cello
Lukas Nowok, Sound Design

With

Philharmonic Orchestra Freiburg

Freiburger Barockorchester

André de Ridder – Conductor

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