Scardanelli

Locked in his tower in Tübingen and in the insanity that marked the second half of his life, Friedrich Hölderlin wrote strange poems under several pseudonyms, including that of Scardanelli. Hölderlin gave implausible dates to these writings as well. The ultimate experience Hölderlin’s poetry describes a voyage beyond time and invisibility. The large Scardanelli-Zyklus project that the composer Heinz Holliger worked on from 1975 to 1993 is a unique experience in 20th century music, an inexorable journal.

cherrierSophie Cherrier © Aymeric Warmé-Janville

Three circles are organized: Seasons for mixed chorus, Exercises on Scardanelli for small orchestra and tape. Finally a series for flute, including the unique (t)air(e) that leads to the psychological limits of the performer, Ad Marginem, one of the works inspired by a Paul Klee painting that provides a key to Scardanelli: the vanishing margins of perception, here ultra-grave and mid-high sounds, is the expression of complete loneliness and oddity. As noted by Schumann, compositional brother of Hölderlin and Holliger, it is “torn to the very roots of existence”.

Heinz Holliger Scardanelli-Zyklus

Sophie Cherrier flute
Choeur de la Radio lettone
Ensemble intercontemporain
Conductor Heinz Holliger
Magnetic Tape Nicolas Berteloot

7pm, Cité de la musique, Médiathèque

Presentation of the concert by Clément Lebrun, musicologist
Free entry upon presentation of a ticket for the evening’s concert.
Reservation required: 01 44 84 44 84

A part of the Biennale d’art vocal.
A Cité de la musique, Ensemble intercontemporain, IRCAM-Centre Pompidou coproduction. With the support of Pro Helvetia-Fondation suisse pour la culture and the Sacem. Concert broadcast live on France Musique