Composition Commission issued to Andrea Scartazzini

LIEDBasel, Switzerland

2020 will see the holding of the international festival LIEDBasel now in its second edition – featuring recitals, masterclasses and contextual events aimed at demonstrating not only the unbroken topicality but also versatility and complexity of the Kunstlied. Once again, the premiere of a Lied cycle is planned. This year’s composition commission goes to the Basel composer Andrea Scartazzini, who will be setting texts by Nora and Eugen Gomringer to music. It was during a Villa Concordia scholarship in Bamberg that Scartazzini met the writer Nora Gomringer, the director of this artist’s villa for many years now. Her father Eugen Gomringer, the founder of concrete poetry, is an important figure in literary history. Inspired by the 2020 festival motto “Eine schrecklich nette Familie” (A terribly nice family) in his Lied cycle Scartazzini will set multilingual texts by father and daughter to music. Commenting on this he writes: “A foreign-language Lied cycle by a German-speaking family of poets seems to me something very special and I have a great desire as a composer to listen to these texts and let them ring out.”

The premiere is funded by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation and will be accompanied by a moderated introductory event where Andrea Scartazzini will provide insights into his work. An exchange between performers, composer and the audience will be held at the festival bar following the Lied recital.

Further Information:
liedbasel.ch