Konzertabend: INTERVENTIONEN – Ying WANG trifft auf Gustav MAHLER

Kreative Dialoge—Ferne Klänge neu hören bei der 25. CHIME-Konferenz in Heidelberg Barbarian Pipes and Strings Reconsidered—Negotiating Authenticity in the Musics of China—Transcultural Perspectives

Ying Wang: Of Detours and Updates. For Voices and E-Guitar (2023)

Gustav Mahler: Das Lied von der Erde  für eine hohe und eine mittlere Gesangstimme mit Klavier (Originalfassung von 1908, veröffentlicht 1987)

SCHOLA HEIDELBERG | ensemble aisthesis

Leitung: Ekkehard Windrich

Genau 25 Jahre nach der letzten Internationalen CHIME (Chinese Music Research Europe) – Konferenz in Heidelberg, Barbarian Pipes and Strings veranstaltete das Centrum für Asienwissenschaften und Transkulturelle Studien (CATS) gemeinsam mit dem Konfuzius Institut und der CHIME Foundation eine Konferenz, die Chinas musikalische Praktiken aus transkultureller Perspektive neu betrachtet. Wie gefährlich, fremdartig oder (un)authentisch bestimmte musikalische Stile oder Instrumente wohl sind, und wem sie “gehören”, sind durchaus relevante Fragen in einem Land, wo Melodien, Instrumente und Klänge von „anderswo“ seit jeher zum “typischen” Repertoire gehören. Kontroversen über Eigentums- und Urheberrechte an alten und neuen Volksliedern oder regionalen Opern und Klagen über Exotismus oder Selbstorientalismus spielen immer dann eine Rolle, wenn von unterschiedlicher Seite “Authentizität” beansprucht, angefochten oder neu verhandelt wird. 5 Konzerte, die „Chinas“ vielfältige musikalische Praktiken—von der Guqin über die Tabla, bis hin zur Morin Khuur, immer wieder neu reflektieren, begleiteten die Konferenz. Zu hören waren wandelbare Klangkörper—Instrumente und Melodien, die ihre Form und ihren Klang auf ihren musikalischen Reisen, u.a. entlang der Seidenstraße verändern; seltene, ephemere Klangtexturen als Spuren musikalischer Erinnerung im transkulturellen Dialog, und schließlich eine fulminante Intervention von WANG Ying zu Gustav Mahlers “Das Lied von der Erde” (1909), das als Ausnahmewerk in der Reihe der Sinfonien Gustav Mahlers, in der Tradition des musikalischen Exotismus steht. WANG stellt Mahlers Vertonung altchinesischer Lyrik in der Nachdichtung durch Hans Bethge eine Reihe von chinesischen Gegenwartsdichtern und ihre Erinnerungen an die Klänge chinesischen Protest-Rocks gegenüber und schließt so eine transkulturell gedachte „chinesische“ Reise um die Erde.

Der zweite Konzertabend, den das Konfuzius-Institut Heidelberg in Kooperation mit der CHIME Foundation und dem Centrum für Asienwissenschaften und Transkulturelle Studien (CATS) am 03. Oktober 2023 in der Aula der Alten Universität veranstaltete, wurde eingeleitet durch eine englischsprachige Podiumsdiskussion zu Gustav Mahlers  “Lied von der Erde” und seine “Cover”. Moderiert von der Sinologin und Musikwissenschaftlerin Prof. Barbara MITTLER diskutierten der deutsche Komponist Stefan HAKENBERG und die chinesische Komponistin WANG Ying mit der Musikerin DAI Xiaolian und Mitgliedern des KlangForum Heidelberg über Fragen des Exotismus und des “Chinesisch-Seins” (“Chineseness”). Für eine detailliertere Beschreibung der Veranstaltung schauen Sie bitte in den untenstehenden englischsprachigen Text.

English:

Gustav Mahler’s Lied von der Erde, in the version for two voices and large orchestra completed in 1908, was premiered posthu- mously in November 1911, six months after Mahler’s death. It requires an ensemble of some 90 musicians. The composition by WANG Ying Of Detours and Updates for voices and E-guitar had its world premiere in the spring of 2023, when it was performed in conjunction with the so-called Kammerfassung (chamber version) of Mahler’s Lied, as arranged by Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951), to be performed in 1921 in the Vienna Verein für musikalische Privataufführungen (Society for Private Musical Performances). This performance never materialized and the piece subsequently remained unfinished. It was completed by Rainer Riehn in 1983. The present concert will combine WANG’s interventions with Mahler’s piece in yet another version, however, its Urfassung for two voices and piano. This first ever version was prepared by Mahler himself during the composition process in the summer of 1908 in Toblach (South Tyrol), but remained unpublished until 1989.

Gustav Mahler (1860-1911)
Das Lied von der Erde
For piano, mezzo soprano and tenor

WANG Ying (*1976)
Of Detours and Updates
For Voices and E-Guitar (2023)
Composition commissioned by
KlangForum Heidelberg e.V.
with the support of the Ernst von
Siemens Music Foundation (2023, world premiere)

Ying Wang was born in Shanghai, China. After studying composition at the Shanghai Conservatory, postgraduate studies took her to Germany in 2003 to York Höller at the HfMT Cologne, where she also studied electronic composition with Michael Beil. Lessons with Rebecca Saunders and Johannes Schöllhorn rounded out her education. In 2010, she completed her studies in contemporary music at the HfMDK Frankfurt on a scholarship from the International Ensemble Modern Academy (IEMA). In 2012, Ying Wang participated in the Cursus de Composition et d’informatique musicale/Ircam Paris.Ying Wang works on her compositions with renowned orchestras such as the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, Gürzenich Orchester Köln, Brandenburg Symphony Orchestra, Avanti! Orchestra Helsinki, renowned conductors such as Markus Stenz, Brad Lubman and Marcus Creed and established ensembles such as Ensemble Phoenix Basel, Ensemble Alternance, Lucerne Festival Ensemble, Cassatt Quartet, Ensemble Resonanz, Ensemble PHACE and Ensemble Kontrapunkt. Her compositions are performed at renowned festivals such as Tage für Neue Musik Zürich, Acht Brücken and Wien Modern. Her works have been performed in Paris, New York, Stockholm, Berlin, Beijing, Lucerne and many other metropolises. 2013 she was awarded the production prize of the Giga-Hertz-Prize and the composer prize of the 5th Brandenburg Biennale. In addition to the IEMA scholarship 2009/10 she received further scholarships from the Experimental Studio of the SWR, the the Federal Ministry of Vienna and, on the advice of Peter Eötvös, a scholarship from theEdenkoben manor house. In 2014 she was awarded the IRINO PRIZE for chamber orchestr in Tokyo, and in 2017 she was awarded the Heidelberg Female Artist Prize. In 2015, the Deutschlandfunk invited her as “Composer in residence” to the festival “Forum Neuer Musik” in Cologne. Ying Wang has received numerous composition commissions, including from SWR, DLF, Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, Lucerne Festival, Kasseler Musiktage 2011/2013, Lanxess “Young Euro Classic”, Theater und Orchester Heidelberg, Kölner Philharmonie and many others. Since 2013, Ying Wang has been teaching composition at the Shanghai Conservatory.

SCHOLAHEIDELBERG – Virtuosity coupled with versatility. Both individually and collectively, the vocal soloists of the SCHOLA HEIDELBERG are equally at home with widely differing styles and vocal techniques, all the way up to microtonal intonation and vocal and respiratory noise. Under the artistic directorship of their founder Walter Nußbaum, works from the 16th/17th and the 20th/21st centuries meet head-on, often with astounding results. A new interpretive culture materializes from an intensive concern with historically informed performance and contemporary music. The ensemble’s extensive repertoire is the fruit of close collaboration with leading present-day composers. Much noted are the commissions for new works deriving from projects like Heimathen and Prinzhorn. SCHOLA HEIDELBERG performs in its home city, all over Germany and at international festivals like the Salzburg Festival, Milano Musica, the Lucerne Festival, the Biennale in Venedig, the Biennale Salzburg and the Festival d’automne in Paris. The Schola has successful cooperative partnerships with the Ensemble Modern, the WDR Symphony Orchestra Cologne, the SWR Symphony Orchestra, the Bamberg Symphony Orchestra, the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie, and the Gürzenich Orchestra.
SCHOLA HEIDELBERG‘s CD recordings of vocal compositions from the 20th/21st centuries have received several international awards.

ensemble aisthesis – A sensory understanding of new sound worlds. The ensemble aisthesis focuses on contemporary music from the 20th/21st centuries. Its Greek-inspired name reflects the bid for all-encompassing perception. Under the artistic direction of founder Nußbaum, the instrumentalists (up to 20 in number) have steadily built up an extensive repertoire ranging from modern classics like Schoenberg, Webern, Boulez, Stockhausen, and Lachenmann to forward-looking Romantic works by Wagner or Mahler. Commissions invariably take shape in close conjunction with the composers. Close collaboration with the SCHOLA HEIDELBERG has resulted in concert formats like Prinzhorn or Heimathen and the CD Nuits – weiß wie Lilien (“Nights – White as Lilies”). The ensemble aisthesis performs regularly in Heidelberg and has been invited to festivals like musica viva Munich, the Zurich Festival, the Romanische Nacht in Cologne, the Tongyeong International Music Festival in South Korea, the Kasseler Musiktage or the Basel Music Forum. One much-noted recording by the ensemble is LEIBOWITZ – COMPOSITEUR, issued to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the composer’s birth. It contains a representative cross-section of René Leibowitz’ works, impressively documenting his impact on the musical world.