Consolations

photo: Hubert Caldagues

Your programmes so far have often taken the form of unusual musical dialogues. At the Bachfest, you’ll be performing the Brahms »Requiem« in conjunction with works by Bach, Schütz, Mendelssohn and Buxtehude. How much (or how little) does the Romantic Brahms have in common with these Baroque composers?
For me, there’s a direct connection between all German composers from the Baroque to the Romantic period, as if they were relaying the baton from one to another. I’ve compiled the concert programme in such a way as to enable the influences from the past that inspired the composers of the following generations to be clearly perceived. The journey goes from Schütz to Buxtehude and directly to Bach. There’s a slight break with Mendelssohn, but he is so strongly influenced by Bach’s art of counterpoint and harmony that you soon realise what links the two composers. As for Brahms, I feel there’s a direct link between his way of thinking and that of Schütz in their approach to the requiem, which is referred to as »German« but was above all human in intent. 

According to which musical and textual criteria did you choose the pieces on the programme?
I wanted to treat the concept of consolation, mainly from two angles. I first of all focused my research on texts that promise consolation for everyone living, to bring them trust and inner peace when they approach their own death. Secondly, I sought out texts or works that deal with the consolation for »those left behind«. In the latter case, either the music brings great consolation or the poetry of the text highlights the deceased, their characteristics and deeds, and supplies words that help the family attain a certain inner peace. 

Brahms wrote for a large orchestra, Schütz for a small Baroque ensemble. How do you arrange the works to make them compatible with one single concert?
In my arrangements I tried to reduce the musical forces of the Romantic works to bring out their link to the German Baroque period. Even Brahms himself produced a version of his »Requiem« for two pianos, so he wasn’t averse to the practice. In this slightly reduced form, the Romantic works correspond much more closely to the music of Bach or Buxtehude.