Concerts with works by

Paul Hindemith

Organ concert: Schmitt Koch Kabadaić

The stage is set for our favourite organist, who is also in great demand on the international scene: In the last organ concert of this season, Christian Schmitt will play our large concert hall organ – accompanied by our solo flutist Daniela Koch and our deputy solo violist Branko Kabadaić. The concert begins with a fascinating etude for organ pedal, which Christian Schmitt premièred in Zurich in 2023 – and about which the composer Maximilian Schnaus writes: »The musical idea illuminates the peripheral areas of the organ sound and the peripheral areas of our perception.« Liszt studied Bach’s organ works and passions intensively, particularly during his time in Weimar – and his affection for this Baroque master found intimate expression in the Andante »Aus tiefer Not«, written in 1859. Paul Hindemith wrote this touching funeral music on a concert tour in London on 21 January 1936 within a few hours after King George V had died there on the previous day. Bach’s masterful Sonata in G major captivates with its skilful interweaving of voices between the two instruments. For César Franck, it was clear: »Mon orgue? – C'est un orchestre!« And that is exactly how his magnificent musical creations sound – including the »Grande pièce symphonique«, completed in 1862, which even bears the required orchestral gesture in its title. Tōru Takemitsu, the cosmopolitan and influential composer from Japan, created an almost revolutionary work in 1971 with his flute piece »Voice« – because the human voice is included here in an interesting way. To wrap things up, the concertino by Cécile Chaminade, written in 1902, impresses with its breathtaking virtuosity, passionate gestures, shimmering harmonies and yearning melodies.

Espresso-Konzert mit dem Konzerthausorchester Berlin

At our espresso concerts in the early afternoon, we serve two kinds of caffeine - in cups and, of course, musically: outstanding young musicians present surprise programs that really wake you up - in this case on the podium of the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and as a violin soloist.

NOSPR Chamber Musicians / Hindemith / Britten / Music as light as a feather

Paul Hindemith is among the most underrated artists of the 20th century. Anyone who listens to his Kammermusik, op. 24 no. 1, a genuinely sparkling with ideas and light as a feather piece of music, will come to this conclusion. This architect of the cornerstone of historical performance and founding father of the famous Donaueschingen Contemporary Music Festival embodied the dominant ideals of the New Objectivity in German art of the 1920s, namely simplicity of means and communicativeness, in his Chamber Music series. It is a peculiar variety of neo-classicism, unjustly overshadowed by French or Russian music. The third movement in Kammermusik (op. 36 no. 3) is essentially a chamber cello concerto with explicit references to Baroque music. It is not without reason, after all, that this entire series has been compared to Bach's Brandenburg Concertos. Surprisingly similar in its spirit tone, although referring to the classical form and not devoid of stronger emotional accents, is the Sinfonietta of the then-only 18-year-old Benjamin Britten, already heralding his extraordinary talent. Adam SuprynowiczConcert duration: approximately 70 minutes

Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Iván Fischer

Our honorary conductor Iván Fischer is a guarantee for unusual programmes. This time, he and the Konzerthausorchester will perform works by four composers who were ostracised and persecuted by the National Socialists and whose works shaped the avant-garde of the interwar period. Paul Hindemith, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler found their way to the United States via detours, but Erwin Schulhoff was interned in Prague, deported and died of tuberculosis in a camp in Bavaria.

Konzerthausorchester Berlin, Iván Fischer

Our honorary conductor Iván Fischer is a guarantee for unusual programmes. This time, he and the Konzerthausorchester will perform works by four composers who were ostracised and persecuted by the National Socialists and whose works shaped the avant-garde of the interwar period. Paul Hindemith, Kurt Weill and Hanns Eisler found their way to the United States via detours, but Erwin Schulhoff was interned in Prague, deported and died of tuberculosis in a camp in Bavaria.

Chamber Music Concert

Quintessence, photo: Wojciech Grzędziński Before the Polish Composers Union commissioned Michał Spisak to write his Quintet for flute, oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon, he had left his homeland to hone his talent under the tutelage of the famous Nadia Boulanger in Paris. Who knows to what extent the opportunity to become acquainted with French chamber music of the first decades of the twentieth century influenced the character of this piece, full of elegance, airiness and attractive – due in large part to the forces – colour? ‘No, young man, not at all like that. More rhythm. It’s a folk dance’ – that is how Edvard Grieg supposedly admonished the young Maurice Ravel as he played one of the ageing composer’s dances. Among Grieg’s numerous arrangements of native melodies, the Four Norwegian Dances, Op. 35, originally composed for two pianos and later reworked – not only by the composer – for various forces, gained great popularity. Paul Hindemith’s modernist Kammermusik cycle, the eight pieces of which are aptly described as ‘modern Brandenburg concertos’, was intended for various combinations of instruments. Drawing on the material of the first piece, Hindemith subsequently composed a smaller work for wind quintet, termed Kleine Kammermusik. György Ligeti’s cycle of six miniatures (bagatelles) for wind quintet was first performed without the last piece (dominated by the interval of a second) in Budapest in 1953 because, as the composer himself supposedly commented, ‘totalitarianism doesn’t like dissonance’.

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Federleichte Höhenflüge

Haydn's Symphony No. 83, nicknamed "La poule" (The Hen), features a "cackling" theme. Hindemith's viola concerto, nicknamed "Der Schwanendreher" (The Swan Turner), incorporates folk song themes. Bernd Alois Zimmermann's "Un petit rien" (A Little Nothing) is more than its name suggests. Stravinsky's "Le chant du rossignol" (The Song of the Nightingale) is based on his opera and Andersen's fairy tale. The concert, conducted by Elena Schwarz and featuring violist Tabea Zimmermann, includes a pre-concert talk.

Federleichte Höhenflüge

Haydn's Symphony No. 83, nicknamed "La poule" (The Hen), features a "cackling" theme. Hindemith's viola concerto, nicknamed "Der Schwanendreher" (The Swan Turner), incorporates folk song themes. Bernd Alois Zimmermann's "Un petit rien" (A Little Nothing) is more than its name suggests. Stravinsky's "Le chant du rossignol" (The Song of the Nightingale) is based on his opera and Andersen's fairy tale. The concert, conducted by Elena Schwarz and featuring violist Tabea Zimmermann, includes a pre-concert talk.

Komponistenmusik