Music of Our Time

Large-scale works by two female composers are juxtaposed in ACHT BRÜCKEN’s opening night concert by the WDR Symphony Orchestra. Sofia Gubaidulina, born in Stalin’s Soviet Union, always considered composing a religious act. In her twelve-movement symphony »Stimmen… verstummen…«, the movements with uneven numbers represent the eternal or an inner sound space, the even-numbered ones the earthly element, the goal-oriented dynamic development in time. While the even movements grow longer and longer, the uneven ones are abbreviated until the ninth movement has reached its culmination – a silent cadence performed by the conductor. To Liza Lim, who grew up as the daughter of Chinese parents in Australia and has taught intermittently in Europe, relations between different cultures have been a life-long subject of interest. Her »Annunciation Triptychon: Sappho, Mary, Fatimah«, performed here in its entirety for the first time following the completion of its third part, draws a broad line from the Greek poet Sappho to Mary, the virgin Mother of God, to Fatima, the daughter of Mohammed, founder of Islam. Lim considers the stories of these three women as comments on ecological, spiritual and transcultural issues of our times. 

Das Konzert im Radio: Freitag, 29.04.2022, 20:04, WDR3 Konzert LIVE