CIRCULAR TIME I & II
CRUMB | RZEWSKI | MACHAUT
Counteracting the rapid forgetting of our breathless time, this production curated by Iris Lichtinger addresses the loss of two important contemporary American composers: George Crumb died on February 6, 2022 in Pennsylvania, Frederic Rzewski on June 26, 2021 in Montiano / Toscana.
Crumb writes in his program note for Macrocosm (1972/1973) of "terrifying images" that kept surfacing in him - they seemed to accompany the following thoughts and questions: the magical properties of music; the problem of the origin of evil; the timelessness of time; the deep irony of life. The symbolic design of the notation of individual movements in the form of a circle, spiral or cross points back seven centuries to the Middle Ages, in which Machaut's iconic riddle canon "My end is my beginning" is temporally located.
The MEHR MUSIK! Ensemble transforms this reminiscence not with medieval instruments, but in a modern way. Rzewski's basic linear structure in "Coming together" (1974), a chain of sixteenth notes rushing unsustainably towards its end with ever-increasing pull, again impressively illustrates a line of text in the work that is shouted several times, ever more insistently: "The inevitable direction of my life."
Works:
A life (1992) piano solo - Frederic Rzewski (1938-2021).
Sonata (1955) cello solo - George Crumb (1929-2022)
Cruzifixus from: Macrocosm I (1972) amplified piano solo - George Crumb
Magic Circle of Infinity - MORE MUSIC! Ensemble (2023) (improvisation)
Ma fin est mon commencement - Rondeau à 3 - Guillaume de Machaut (ca. 1300-1377)
Coming together & Attica (1974) for any number of instruments - Frederic Rzewski
MORE MUSIC! Ensemble
Iris Lichtinger, voice & conception / Martin Krechlak, saxophone / Tom Jahn, synthesizer / Edward King, cello / Florian Hartz, electric bass / Stanimir Andreev, vibraphone / Shenglong Li, piano
The festival project Metax Modern has chosen the Jazzclub Augsburg (Sat, May 20) and the rural Gut Bannacker (Sun, May 21) for Circular Time I & II on its mission to present contemporary music at new venues, launched in 2021. The name Metax Modern stands for surprise, for inspiration and dialogue. All that is allowed is what can be organically put together. The main thing is new!
An event of METAX MODERN MUSIC FESTIVAL
Info: https://metax-modern-festival.de/