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German Premiere of Oscar Jockel's asche ist weiß by the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin, Under the Composer's Baton

Dec. 20, 2024

Oscar Jockel led the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester Berlin in the German premiere of asche ist weiß on December 5 at the Main Auditorium of the Philharmonie Berlin. Jockel notes:

"The statement “ash is white” points to this logic of time, timelessness and eternity. However, timelessness or the transcendental is nothing special in itself. Pure experience is in the here and now. The here and now is the only reality we have. Nevertheless, it is quite difficult to be in the here and now.

asche ist weiẞ tries to achieve this feeling of timelessness through the perception of sound. If you try to capture the feeling of timelessness, you fail, because you can't capture time. You cannot grasp it, you can only perceive it. This perception and simultaneous letting go of time can be described as an infinite cycle (just like time itself, as in Planck's quantum of action, which describes time as a circular frequency in which energy and time oscillate back and forth in minimal circles / elementary quanta of action).

Ash is a symbol for the transience of time. Like ashes, the destruction and transience of things always contains a new beginning that leads to new bloom.

This Berlin version of asche ist weiß. was created for a concert in the Berlin Philharmonie with the Deutsche-Symphonie Orchester Berlin, which was planned by Deutschlandfunk Kultur. The orchestration was adapted slightly for this concert due to the spatial conditions. Whereas in the first version the orchestra is distributed around the audience, here the audience is distributed around the orchestra. The archaic sound effect of the piece thus unfolds like the silent and timeless contemplation of a blazing fire, around which the audience sits in a circle like a campfire. Nowadays there is a lot of talk without real communication. This piece tries to create real communication without talk. Like the silent village meeting around an old oak tree on the market square."

To learn more about Oscar Jockel, visit universaledition.com.

Listen to Oscar Jockel's paths in the sky (2023):

paths in the sky/Oscar Jockel/Karajan-Akademie der Berliner Philharmoniker

Oscar Jockel
asche ist weiß (2021)
for orchestra
2.2.2.2-4.2.3.1-timp-2perc-org-str
8'

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