KARL AMADEUS HARTMANN – CENTER

The event concept consisting of a concert, lecture and exhibition with Alexander Lonquich, which is dedicated to the subject of “Grenzgänge”, would like to invite the audience to experience border crossings of a special kind: both Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s piano sonata “27. April 1945” and Robert Schumann’s eighteen-part cycle “Davidsbündlertänze” each deal with human border experiences. Composed in the last days of the war before the final collapse of the “Third Reich”, Hartmann’s Piano sonata concludes the canon of compositions with which he tirelessly opposed and worked on National Socialism since 1927. Although Karl Amadeus Hartmann was regarded as the rising star in the composer’s heaven at the beginning of the 1930s, he rigorously refused to be appropriated by the totalitarian regime and went into internal emigration, while as a composer he sought to speak abroad all the more eloquently. He is therefore perceived in the world as the German antifascist composer par excellence, who was not only actively involved in resistance circles, but also took a loud and generally understandable stand with his music. In all his compositions written during the years of National Socialism, Hartmann attempted to convey his message of boundless humanity independent of political systems to the outside world by constantly including Jewish melodies, which became the ciphers of lamentation and accusation, as well as music and text quotations of ostracized and forbidden artists. The Jewish Passover song Eliyahu Hanavi, which he used in all his works and which became a cipher for Jewish culture for him, plays a central role here.
In the sonata “27. April 1945”, the melody once again gains special relevance. It is precisely in the knowledge of the significance of the theme in the genesis of this work that it becomes clear what this sonata is about: the population of Jewish origin almost exterminated by the Holocaust, but also the dissidents and opponents of the regime whom Hartmann saw passing by on 27 April 1945 in the death march of concentration camp prisoners from Dachau. The concert is facetted by graphics by the Austrian sculptor Alfred Hrdlicka, whose work obeys the credo “Aufdeckung statt Flucht“ [“Disclosure instead of flight”], seeks the wound in the everyday and – like Hartmann and Schumann – appeals to the viewer’s capacity for empathy.
The Kafkaesque “Trois Études blanches” by Wilhelm Killmayer, who celebrates his 90th birthday this year, complete the programme.

An event of the © Karl Amadeus Hartmann-Gesellschaft e. V., sponsored by Staatsministerium für Bildung und Kultus, Wissenschaft und Kunst and Stiftung Künstlerische Musikpflege.

In keeping with Karl Amadeus Hartmann’s intention, the “Podium of Young Composers” provides a platform that enables selected young composers to arrange an entire evening programmatically and to compose temporally comprehensive works for it. Following in the footsteps of the great time diagnostician Karl Amadeus Hartmann, works are created especially for this concert that consciously seek an artistic examination of today’s “realities of life”.
In Lieder in der Fremde, the human voice is now for the first time at the centre. The Jewish Passover song Eliyahu Hanavi will play a special role here. In all his compositions between 1933 and 1945, Hartmann attempted to convey his message of boundless humanity, independent of political systems, to the outside world by constantly incorporating this Jewish melody, which had become the cipher of lamentation and accusation.
The composers of the evening, who come from the most diverse continents, pick up where they left off, both musically and in terms of content, and in this way shape their own songs abroad. An in-depth discussion of the composers with Olena Garmash and the artistic director of the concert series Andreas Hérm Baumgartner (conductor) will round off the evening.

An event of the © Karl Amadeus Hartmann-Gesellschaft e. V. in cooperation with the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, sponsored by Kulturreferat der Landeshauptstadt München, Anja Fichte Stiftung, Theodor-Rogler-Stiftung and LfA Förderbank Bayern.

We feel particularly committed to the mission and intention of Karl Amadeus Hartmann to promote young, highly talented composers and performers and to introduce them to the humanistic and socio-political dimensions of his works. Within the framework of our new series of events, hartmann21, this request is now to be taken into account. In 2016/2017, renowned instrumentalists and composers such as Thomas Zehetmair (violin), Ruth Killius (viola), Francesco Dillon (violoncello), Alexander Lonquich (piano), Emanuele Torquati (piano) as well as Thomas Larcher (composer) will deal with Hartmann’s work in singularly “composed” programmes.
Following the intention of Karl Amadeus Hartmann, the “Podium of Young Composers” is a new platform that enables two selected young composers to create a programmatic programme for an entire evening and to compose temporally comprehensive works for it. The second portrait concert focuses on the South Korean composer Hankyeol Yoon and Jakob Stillmark, a native from Feldafingen. Following in the footsteps of the great time diagnostician Karl Amadeus Hartmann and referring thematically to the other events of the KAHG, works will be created especially for this concert, which consciously seek an artistic examination of today’s “realities of life”. In his works, Stillmark addresses inner restlessness as a symptom of our stimulus-flooded world, whereas Yoon gets to the bottom of the linguistic quality and linguistic ability of music. An in-depth conversation between the two composers and the artistic director of the concert series Andreas Hérm Baumgartner and Olena Garmash will round off the evening.

An event of the © Karl Amadeus Hartmann-Gesellschaft e. V. in cooperation with the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, sponsored by Anja Fichte Stiftung, Theodor-Rogler-Stiftung und LfA Förderbank Bayern.

With the Austrian Thomas Larcher, „einer der prägnantesten kompositorischen Persönlichkeiten der Musikszene“ [“one of the most incisive compositional personalities of the music scene”](NMZ) encounters Hartmann’s work, exposes himself to it, reflects, traces references and lets the listener participate in his individual world of experience. In a singularly composed program, Larcher and his instrumental soloists Francesco Dillon (cello) and Emanuele Torquati (piano) create a kaleidoscope of different perspectives and modes of perception, allowing one to experience Hartmann’s early piano pieces anew.
Thomas Larcher, born in 1963, grew up in Tyrol and studied composition and piano in Vienna. Already during his studies he became known as a pianist in the field of classical and contemporary music. He played with conductors such as Claudio Abbado, Pierre Boulez and Franz Welser-Möst and worked closely with composers such as Heinz Holliger, Olga Neuwirth and Isabel Mundry. Larcher is considered one of the most important and at the same time most interesting voices among contemporary composers. In his works, Larcher shows himself to be a border crosser of styles, who consciously walks alongside the orthodox paths of the so-called avant-garde. What they have in common is a rich musical texture, which creates a variety and variability of sound language.
Emanuele Torquati is regarded as one of the leading pianists, who is admired worldwide for his poetic and passionate music-making. The New York Times referred to him as „a thoughtful musician and a champion of contemporary music.“ He is assisted by Francesco Dillon, an outstanding cellist whose repertoire and style of interpretation are characterized by a high degree of openness, intensity and originality. He is equally at home as a soloist in the world’s great concert halls and as a guest of the most important international orchestras.

An event of the © Karl Amadeus Hartmann-Gesellschaft e. V., sponsored by Stiftung Bayerischer Musikfonds, Stiftung Künstlerische Musikpflege and LfA Förderbank Bayern.

Following the intention of Karl Amadeus Hartmann, the “Podium of Young Composers” is a platform that enables selected young composers to create a programmatic evening. Following in the footsteps of the great time diagnostician Karl Amadeus Hartmann, works are created that consciously seek an artistic examination of the realities of our lives today.
Thus Elena Tarabanova draws on her personal experience of the terrorist attacks of 2013 in Volgograd, traces references of human consciousness to untouched nature and contrasts this with a musical psychogram of a soul suffering in the world. Severin Dornier, on the other hand, directs our attention to the aesthetics of earlier art epochs and traces the present in narrative attitude and sound language through the moment of a “look back to the front”.

An event of the © Karl Amadeus Hartmann-Gesellschaft e. V. in cooperation with the Hochschule für Musik und Theater München, sponsored by Anja Fichte Stiftung, Theodor-Rogler-Stiftung und Stiftung Bayerischer Musikfonds.