Winter Music – Tragödie

Summer Time Version

Tragedy shows man as he is; his drives become visible. The tragedy of tragedy is the inevitability of fate, which no one can escape, because that is precisely the tragedy; running towards the inevitable – knowingly or unknowingly – and being unable to do otherwise. But a tragedy needs more than reality, more than real life. It needs an audience for it to unfold as art, and listeners to absorb and evaluate this art in the element of catharsis.

In the programme curated by Annesley Black and Samir Odeh-Tamimi from works by members of the Akademie der Künste staged and performed by the Zafraan Ensemble, the theme of Greek tragedy reveals itself to be (in-)direct and multifaceted – as the fate of individual sound events, as the inevitability of a sound disappearing into silence, as an archaeological exploration, as a reference to tragic political or social events, or as an expression of a time of great emotional crisis or a passionate outburst of rage. Ancient tragedy is timeless and present, and the question remains: what does man do when he can no longer find a way out?

The curatorial starting point is Vinko Globokar’s La Prison, in which the composer prevents the eight instrumentalists from playing a “normal” sound. Ancient tragedy is timeless and present, and the question remains: what does man do when he sees no way out?

• Hans Wüthrich: »2 Minuten gegen das Vergessen« für Klavier oder Streichtrio (1978)
• Rebecca Saunders: »Fury II« concerto for doublebass solo and ensemble (2010)
• Isabel Mundry: »Sounds, Archeologies« für Bassetthorn, Violoncello, Klavier (2017/2018)
• Erhard Grosskopf: »UND BILDER BESSRER ZEIT UM UNSRE SEELE SCHWEBEN« Kammerkonzert für Klavier und 11 Instrumente, op. 41 (1989/90)