Unleashed

After the premiere of Ludwig van Beethoven’s 7th symphony, some contemporaries speculated that he must have been completely drunk or even insane when tossing it on paper. Indeed, what Beethoven brought forth and released unto his audience in his op. 92 is ecstatic and wild, excessive, and completely unchained. Three of the four movements can be described as nothing less than enormous elemental forces, furious storms, and it is up to the listener to decide whether the sounds resemble military activities or wild, frenzied dancing. In the legendary second movement, the great master insistently repeats one specific rhythmic pattern. A procession? A funeral march? In any case, many motion pictures have since been grateful users of this material.

Composing and giving birth have a lot in common. Both the biological and the creative pregnancy are times which are deeply associated with great hopes, worries, and dreams. At some point the moment arrives, and what comes next is a process of breaking away, conquering the world, and starting a future of one’s own. In his violin concerto »Genesis« (origin, creation), the Japanese composer Toshio Hosokawa finds a fascinating perspective on this inherently human phenomenon. Growth and development towards unchained independence, those words might adequately describe the composed journey of the solo violin into musical life. An adventurous path between conflation, conflict and return to the harmony of sound. That’s life.

The Gürzenich Orchestra has always been happy to act as musical midwife, and as such is eagerly awaiting a new work by York Höller, a composer who has followed his very own, multifarious path as an artist, always with open ears, and free of dogmatic restrictions.