Heinz Holliger - Atembogen | WDR Symphony Orchestra

Heinz Holliger's "Atembogen", performed by the WDR Symphony Orchestra conducted by Heinz Holliger on 20.01.2022 at the WDR Funkhaus.
Heinz Holliger - Atembogen
for orchestra
WDR Symphony Orchestra
Heinz Holliger, Conductor
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○ Introduction to the works
"Music in dialogue" in times of pandemic: an invitation to immerse oneself in sounds, in timelessness, in reflections. From time immemorial, music has opened up new dimensions for people, capturing the unspeakable in sound. Music is a medium of consolation as well as of joy, of existential borderlines as well as of life affirmation. The Corona pandemic confronts the societies of our earth with one of the greatest taboos - the finiteness of our lives. Covid-19 shakes the strongholds of our need for security, protection and support, for hope and confidence. This tension is reflected in tonight's programme.
Similar to Moser in his Schubert reflection, his compatriot Heinz Holliger also reflects on already existing works in "Atembogen". The composition, recalls the 1939-born composer, "I wrote it after an extremely destructive phase in my music [...]. Here I bring music back out of nothing, as it were; they are shadows of 'real' music." Without the trauma of the Second World War, the work composed in 1974/75 would hardly be conceivable. It realises sounds of a permanently shaken basic trust, of a deep insecurity. And so one of the playing instructions is: "Shadowy, brittle sound, close to the limit of audibility". Musicologist Michael Kunkel writes: "Perhaps one could say: by turning certain existing musics into sound shadows in 'Atembogen', those actually only 'properly' come into their own."
These existing musics are largely works by Holliger himself, from the 1960s and early 1970s. He created "Atembogen" on commission from Paul Sacher and in it he also quotes other compositions sponsored by this Swiss patron, such as Béla Bartók's "Music for Stringed Instruments, Percussion and Celesta", Arthur Honegger's Second Symphony or Igor Stravinsky's cantata "A Sermon, a Narrative and a Prayer". We hear a reflection on loss and transience. Holliger was also inspired by literary texts, including Robert Walser. Thus "Atembogen" is also a reflection of Walser's sentence about the fading of music: "The fading is its life". Or to put it another way: it can only unfold its effect by fading away at the same time.
(Text: Otto Hagedorn)

[@baileyreidrickman]

Very much like Jörg Widmann, a truly great performer and composer. Thanks so much for this intriguing piece ❤️🎶

[@WDRKlassik]

Thank you 🥰

[@driesanalog4187]

Als ich die Haare sah 7:03, habe ich die Musik verstanden.

[@OrKestrAlan]

Very beatiful music, thanks for this great performance.

[@WDRKlassik]

Thanks!

[@germanquintero10121946]

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