Brahms reflected in New Music – Composition Commission issued to Carlos Bermejo Martín

SWR Vokalensemble, Stuttgart, Germany

The SWR Vokalensemble and pianist Yukiko Sugawara are working together on a concert dedicated to Johannes Brahms and his contemporaries. Famous for also being particularly committed to current music and for regularly giving it a platform, the SWR Vokalensemble has also issued a composition commission to Spaniard Carlos Bermejo Martín. In his work Früh kommt die Nacht for four-handed piano and 16 voices Martín makes reference to the introspective and melancholic singing in Johannes Brahms’ op. 104: “Some compositional elements are used by Brahms. (…) The different questions and answers raised by the voices in Brahms are transformed into diverse acoustic and spatial relationships: filters, resonances, echoes, maskings and amplifications. And the pale mist, the shrouded figures, the shadows of the dark are designed in the piece. The choir sounds should be perceived as spatial area and volumes. (…) The 16 voices are positioned within a specific spatial situation on the stage. The singers should sit on the very edge of the stage using its maximum width. The choirmaster should have enough room to comfortably coordinate all musicians. The piano is positioned in the background somewhat distanced from the choir. Being close to the choir helps the audience experience their own sense of sound within the space and the corporeality of that sound.” Carlos Bermejo Martín studied under Helmut Lachenmann, Mauricio Sotelo and Marco Stroppa and lives in Madrid where he teaches at the local music academy.

2019/2020 Season
Stuttgart Theaterhaus, T1, Germany

Further information:
swr.de/ve