Philippe Petit, New York, 1974
© Jean-Louis Blondeau / Polaris

 

Wien Modern 31: Sicherheit

Wien Modern, Austria

 

The 31st Festival Wien Modern in 2018 bears the title “Sicherheit” (“Security”) in an artistic force field caught between determination and coincidence, control and risk. Using Nikolaus Harnoncourt’s witticism – “security and beauty are not compatible” as its point of departure – the festival’s varied line-up of events deals with the varying degrees of freedom, control and determination in music. Coincidence, risk and graphic notation play a role. Improvisation finds itself side by side with extreme complexity and precision.

The 2018 festival invites the audience to take a bold step toward conceptual thinking in composition and to broaden their horizons to include the growing circle of artistic forms of expression in music of the present day such as interactive sound installations.

At the same time, Wien Modern has once again set itself the task of also keeping classics of 20th century music alive on the Viennese music scene and of presenting them for fresh discussion for today’s generation of listeners. Exponents here include the likes of John Cage, Brian Ferneyhough, Vinko Globokar and Nikolaus A. Huber.

Founded by Claudio Abbado in 1988 the Wien Modern Festival is Austria’s largest platform for contemporary music and one of the world’s largest festivals in this field, both in terms of the number of events and visitors.

 

October 28 – November 30, 2018
Numerous locations throughout Vienna, Austria

 

Further Information:
wienmodern.at