NDR Chamber Music Concert: String Sextet
Widmann / Schulhoff / Brahms
Pure Lebensfreude
Rhythm and power – two words that perfectly describe the first work of the evening, »180 beats per minute«. In the early 1990s, Jörg Widmann, who is a widely sought-after composer and clarinettist (and recently became the NDR Radiophilharmonie’s First Guest Conductor), drew inspiration from the infamous techno nights of the era. The result is a work that, as the composer himself put it, represents »pure zest for life and pure love of rhythm« – and one that is still often performed today.
Erwin Schulhoff, the Prague enfant terrible of the 1920s, contributed a very special sextet to the genre. While he remained true to the four-movement structure of his predecessors, Schulhoff ends his sextet with a profound adagio rather than a fast-paced finale. Premiered in 1924, the work has now been included by the NDR ensemble Polygon on their programme again in honour of the work’s 100th anniversary.
The first of the two Johannes Brahms string sextets was premiered to great acclaim in Hanover in 1860. Yet the publishers were initially sceptical – ensemble music for a sextet of strings was not very common. For the young Brahms, however, the string sextets meant the beginning of his breakthrough as a composer. Their enormous popularity continues to secure them a place on concert programmes around the world to this day.
Performers
Ensemble Polygon
Alexander Sprung violin
Julius Beck violin
Youngdo Kim viola
Gabriel Uhde viola
Valentin Priebus violoncello
Phillip Wentrup violoncello
Programme
Jörg Widmann
180 Beats per Minute
Erwin Schulhoff
Streichsextett WV 70
– Interval –
Johannes Brahms
Streichsextett Nr. 1 B-Dur op. 18
Promoter: NDR
Location : Rolf-Liebermann-Studio
The Rolf-Liebermann-Studio was a Jewish temple until 1938. Destroyed in the Pogrom Night, ownership of the current Rolf-Liebermann-Studio passed over to the city authorities in 1941, and later to the former Northwest German Broadcasting, which arranged its conversion into a large concert hall. With its classical music concerts, readings, matinees and jazz concerts, the studio is one of the first ports of call for the culturally aware today.
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Getting Here
Underground line U1 to Klosterstern
Bus 34 to Oberstraße
Bus 109 to Sophienterrassen -
Parking
The studio can also be reached easily by car, however parking spaces in the area are very limited.
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Accessibility
The main entrance and the concert hall itself are fully accessible for visitors with limited mobility.
The hall also has an audio induction loop in place for visitors with hearing impairments.
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