This season, the Konzerthausorchester Berlin and principal conductor Christoph Eschenbach have been invited to the Musikfest Berlin with a portrait concert dedicated to Aribert Reimann, who was honoured with the Ernst von Siemens Music Prize for his life’s work in 2011.

Four works by the composer, born in Berlin in 1936, will be on the Konzerthaus Berlin programme. “Spiralat Halom” (Dream Spirals) is based on the song “Zomtei Halom” (Dream Knots) after a poem by David Rokeaj. Not a meditative circling, as the title might suggest, but “a dream that keeps whirling and pushing forward into completely different areas and colours”, as the composer describes this piece for large orchestra. Performing “Cantus” for clarinet and orchestra, one of the most renowned soloists on the woodwind instrument will be our guest: Jörg Widmann, who already performed the world premiere of the work inspired by Debussy’s clarinet compositions in 2006.

“Eingedunkelt”, a cycle of unaccompanied songs for solo voice, sung by Ursula Hesse von den Steinen, was written by Aribert Reimann in 1992 for Brigitte Fassbaender based on nine poems by Paul Celan. In 1993, he composed “Nine Pieces” for orchestra with these same poems, giving them a completely different character.