Composition Commission issued to Philipp Maintz

Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium

In 2017, the organ at the Palais des Beaux-Arts de Bruxelles was recommissioned after a costly process of restoration. Philipp Maintz has attracted attention in the past as a composer with an affinity for organs and has now received a commission for the BOZAR organ.

"I have long been fascinated by the imagery of Albrecht Dürer. In particular, I feel aesthetically close to the richness of detail and depth of his works. Likewise, his symbolism has always had a very inspiring appeal for me." However, the piece is less a pure description of the woodcuts and more an approach to their aura. The actual composition is in fact entirely detached from this serving purely as "music from music". Formal situations give rise to a large, "symphonic" tableau of flowing transitions and changes in perspective, just as we experience them in our mind's eye and our own imagination when we lose ourselves flipping back and forth in contemplation of Dürer's work.

The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation has made it possible to commission Philipp Maintz with a composition which will be premiered by the Orchestre Philharmonique Royal de Liège and organist Laszlo Fassang under the baton of Gergely Madaras.

Further Information:
bozar.be