Ensemble Resonanz / Saerom Park / Dirk Rothbrust

Portrait Rebecca Saunders / Hamburg International Music Festival

Rebecca Saunders
Rebecca Saunders © Astrid Ackermann
Ensemble Resonanz
Ensemble Resonanz © Tobias Schult

Zen-Meister der Aufmerksamkeit

Therapy for the restless and the overstimulated – that’s one way to describe Rebecca Saunders’s music. »She focuses the ear on minute gradations of timbre and intonation, and turns her performers into Zen masters of attention and focus«, writes the Guardian. How fortunate, then, that no less than five Elbphilharmonie concerts are dedicated to Saunders this season. Bringing this spotlight to a close is the award-winning Ensemble Resonanz – with a full-length Saunders programme, of course.

Characteristically of Saunders, the Concerto for Violoncello, Strings and Percussion explores a minute musical ornament, the trill. In the hands of the cellist Saerom Park, it is transformed, says Saunders, into an »unpredictable sound fragment«. A backdrop of shimmering overtones and glissandi animates the piece »Unbreathed« with an eerie magic. And to close, »All that dust« is an opportunity for the percussion to shine, brilliantly performed by Dirk Rothbrust. As one critic brilliantly summarised, »Saunders is looking to create moments of such intensity that music ceases to simply be sound, but becomes an all-consuming synaesthetic experience.«

Audio introduction

Performers

Ensemble Resonanz

Saerom Park violoncello

Dirk Rothbrust percussion

conductor Gregor A. Mayrhofer

Programme

Rebecca Saunders
Module 1 »melody« / from: Dust
Module 5 »metal« / from: Dust
Module 3 »triangles« / from: Dust
Module 4 »crystal« / from: Dust
Unbreathed

William Byrd
Fantasia a 6 No. 2 in G minor

Rebecca Saunders
Ire / Concerto for Violoncello, Strings and Percussion
Breath

Pre-Concert Talk

with Verena Mogl (in German)

18:30 / Elbphilharmonie, Kleiner Saal

Estimated end time

20:45

Festival

Hamburg International Music Festival

Spotlight

Rebecca Saunders

Promoter: HamburgMusik

From the Mediatheque : Videos, Podcasts, Articles

Play Video

: Rebecca Saunders – A Portrait

On a perpetual expedition into the unknown, with an unmistakeable signature – a portrait of one of the most successful composers of our time.

Live-Talk »Visions«: Nahre Sol in conversation with Rebecca Saunders
Play Video

Video on demand from 3 Feb 2023 : Live-Talk »Visions«: Nahre Sol in conversation with Rebecca Saunders

As part of the new music festival »Elbphilharmonie Visions«, the young artist and Youtube icon talks to the British composer about composing in the 21st century.

Stories with the hashtag #MusicFestival2024

The Hamburg International Music Festival 2023 explores the theme of »War and Peace«.

During your visit

Elbphilharmonie Plaza

A public viewing platform on the 8th floor of the Elbphilharmonie

More about the Plaza

Food and Drink

Before the concert and in the interval

Find out more

Coughing, clapping, chatting

Tips for your concert visit

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