Event

In collaboration with the Ensemble Phoenix Basel

The body of work by the recently deceased composer, music theorist, and composition teacher Wolfgang Rihm is immense. Alongside three symphonies, nine operas, and a large number of solo and chamber music works, «Vigilia» holds a very special place as one of the most impressive compositions in his oeuvre. This music manages to be immediately accessible to both connoisseurs and listeners less familiar with new music. In the Catholic liturgy, vigils are night watches spent in scripture readings or prayers, intended to prepare, in the stillness of darkness, for special church festivals, especially Easter. Rihm draws on this custom and the historical musical tradition of the responsorial cycle, as exemplified by Carlo Gesualdo (1560–1613). Wolfgang Rihm based his text on seven Passion texts, sung a cappella by a six-voice vocal ensemble. These motets are each interrupted by instrumental interludes (Sonata I–VII). In the most extensive final section (Miserere), the instrumental and vocal ensembles then perform together.

SCHOLA HEIDELBERG & Ensemble Phoenix Basel
Rehearsal SCHOLA HEIDELBERG | Ekkehard Windrich
Conductor | Jürg Henneberger