Event

Ying Wang meets "Das Lied von der Erde" ("Song of the Earth")

The symphonic song cycle "Das Lied von der Erde" (1909) stands as an exceptional work in the series of symphonies by Gustav Mahler, while simultaneously being in the tradition of musical exoticism. (The reference, particularly to Verdi's "Aida" from 1871, a showcase piece of the genre, proves to be musically plausible both in terms of content and in the tension between large orchestration and chamber music refinement.)
From a contemporary perspective that brings the issue of cultural appropriation and transculturality into play, Mahler's setting of ancient Chinese poetry in Hans Bethge's interpretation can serve as a basis for further engagement with the exotic and the foreign, but also with its construction.

The KlangForum Heidelberg strives, especially in collaboration with the CATS (Centre for Asian and Transcultural Studies at Heidelberg University), to critically question the Eurocentric concept of music history and esthetics. In this sense, the commissioned work by the Chinese composer Ying Wang (*Shanghai 1976) also allows for a series of intermezzos between the six movements of Mahler, repeatedly enabling a change of perspective: The adaptation of Mahler's cycle, played by the ensemble aisthesis together with two outstanding soloists from the SCHOLA HEIDELBERG, in the spirit of the Schoenberg School and the Vienna Association for Musical Private Performances (B: Arnold Schoenberg, Rainer Riehn), combines with Wang's world premiere to create a new, transculturally conceived "Das Lied von der Erde."