Symphony concert 6

To write an all-encompassing book that bears within itself a microcosm of the entire universe—that was the dream of the writer Stéphane Mallarmé. In his »Livre pour Cordes«, the young composer Pierre Boulez continued dreaming the dream. Developing from “Movements for String Quartet”, it grew and proliferated to a »Book for Strings« with which he opens a new chapter in the music of the past century. Beethoven performed his second concerto himself on the piano many times, and also developed it further before having the printed form published, an important step on the path to self-realisation. Béla Bartók sums up his pioneering oeuvre in his »solo for everyone«, the Concerto for Orchestra: spurred by the rhythmic energy of Hungarian folk music, animated by a musical language in which the elements of nature themselves begin to speak, formed by perfect compositional craft, he invites his listeners to an ecstatic dance on the volcano of the 20th century. The master of ceremonies for this programme with key works is General Music Director François-Xavier Roth himself. At his side: Benjamin Grosvenor, a very special pianist of the younger generation.