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Georg Friedrich Haas and Beat Furrer in Boston

Jan. 31, 2012

Georg Friedrich Haas and Beat Furrer in Boston

Boston's new music scene embraces the work of Austrian new music luminaries Georg Friedrich Haas and Beat Furrer this month with two fascinating concerts performed by Sound Icon and director Jeffrey Means. The first, at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art on February 3, features Georg Friedrich Haas' in vain, a work of shattering beauty and sonic immersion. On February 25 at Boston University's CFA Concert Hall, the group presents two works by Beat Furrer; nuun for two pianos and ensemble, and Narcissus-Fragment for two speakers and ensemble.

Haas employs sweeping textures, grand and transformative glissandi, and mountainous microtonal chords to make in vain one of the most intriguing and visceral experiences available to audiences. Much of this music involves coordinated lighting, often casting audience and ensemble into complete darkness. in vain succeeds in shattering our boundaries as listeners, moving for complete immersion in the work's sonic spectrum. Sound Icon will present this work at the ICA, one of Boston's recently acquired architectural treasures.

Though different in scope and character,Furrer's works also demonstrate his interest in transformation. Nuun, for two pianos and ensemble is described by Bernhard Günther for Universal Edition as a transformation from "mechanical energy" into "living energy."

Of nuun, Bernhard Günther writes,

The apparently overwhelming impetus of flowing sounds is slowly brought to a stop; purely mechanical energy is transformed into living energy. In Beat Furrer's work for two pianos and orchestra, the central principle is transformation, specifically on the rhythmic, harmonic and tonal planes, as a continuous process from the beginning to the end.

Narcissus-Fragment, for two speakers and ensemble, is derived from his opera, Narcissus, and follows Ovid's Metamorphosen in the story of Narcissus and Echo. This concert also includes Helmut Lachenmann's ...Zwei Gefühle..., music mit Leonardo, for speaker and ensemble.

Sound Icon is a Boston-based Sinfonietta-sized ensemble committed to performing fundamental new music repertoire from the late 20th and 21st centuries. Their mission is to perform works that have redefined our understanding of music and that are not often performed in the United States.

More information on Georg Friedrich Haas and Beat Furrer is located at www.universaledition.com You can also check out www.baerenreiter.com for more on Beat Furrer.

For more information on Sound Icon:
www.soundicon.org

Georg Friedrich Haas
in vain (2000)
for 24 instruments
2.1.2.sax.1-2.0.2.0-2perc-hp.acc-str
70'

Beat Furrer
Nuun (1995/96)
for two pianos and ensemble
2.1.3.1-2.2.2.0-3perc.sax.2vn.2va.2vc.db

Narcissus-Fragment (1993)
for two speakers and 26 players
2.0.2.1-2.2.2.1-3perc-hp.pno.sax-2vn.2va.2vc.2db
19'


 

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