Wort * Ton * Gestalt (Word * Tone * Shape)

Klangforum Wien, Austria

In a three-day concert symposium supported by the EvS Music Foundation Klangforum Wien, in collaboration with the Institut für Philosophie at Vienna University, will be presenting Hans Zender as the creator of a varied musical work and as one of the most important musical thinkers of our times. In ten lectures thematically linked to Hans Zender’s compositions philosophers, musicologists, linguists and theologians will explore two essential areas of his work: his focus on Hölderlin’s poetry and his study of Japanese literature and Asian thought. The first day of the symposium will close with the presentation of a Hölderlin composition, the two main days of the symposium will begin with a visit to the dress rehearsal of the evening concert for all participants and will end with the two major concert programs. The discussions given great scope at the symposium are therefore largely to be musically inspired and focused on the third theme of the project: music thought. Another additional element is the interplay between the musicians and symposium participants during the three days of the project. The aim here is a varied exchange between the musicians and their audience and a learning process for the ensemble based on the audience’s musical experience leading to findings for alternative concert formats. The broad approach of the comprehensive project and the intense dual encounters with the composer’s music, via participation in both rehearsals and concerts, where participants spend several days together, mean the needs of Zender’s music and the demands of his literary work are met in a way not normally found on the regular concert circuit. The urgently needed exploration of the meaning, significance and conditions of musical appreciation, under conditions that have radically changed since the invention of the concert hall, is a considerable focus of the concert symposium.

November 27, 2016
Vienna University, Institut für Philosophie

November 28/29, 2016
Atelierhaus of the Akademie der bildenden Künste, Vienna

Further Information:
www.klangforum.at