Die große Reihe – Staunen

Symphony concert by the Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra in the Liederhalle

IVES | The unanswered question
KANCHELI | Styx for violin, choir and orchestra
BRAHMS | Symphony No. 4

Gidon Kremer, violin
figure humaine Chamber Choir
Conductor: Denis Rouger
Stuttgart Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Andrey Boreyko

THE UNANSWERED QUESTION

The American Charles Ives was an insurance salesman by profession. Perhaps this is why he was moved by "The Unanswered Question", the eternal "unanswered question" about existence. In his piece from 1906, it is posed by the solo trumpet, while the increasingly hectic flutes hunt for the hidden answer and the strings represent "the silence of the druids who know, see and hear nothing" ...

The Georgian composer Giya Kantcheli combines traditional Georgian chants with modern sounds in a unique way, which, despite all the sadness and pain inherent in them, have a comforting and gentle effect. Johannes Brahms wrote his last symphony in 1884/85 during his summer vacation in Styria and commented on it with his characteristic self-irony: "In general, unfortunately, my pieces are more pleasant than mine, and is there less to correct?" Today, it is one of the most frequently performed symphonies in the repertoire, perhaps also because it deals with the "ultimate questions" in its own uncompromising way - even if a Viennese contemporary underlined the beginning of the music with the words "Es fiel / ihm wie- /der mal / nichts ein /"!