The world première of Georg Friedrich Haas’ concerto grosso No. 1 for four alphorns and orchestra will take place on 28 March at the Herkulessaal in Munich. Here, the composer sees the alphorns as “the source of another dimension of intonation (overtone chords), used to create contrast and to expand the traditional twelvetone tuning of the symphony orchestra.” Susanna Mälkki conducts the hornroh modern alphornquartet and the Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks.

On 8 April BR-Klassik broadcasts a recording of the world première at 20:03. Listen live.

View the full score of the concerto grosso No. 1.

Georg Friedrich Haas: concerto grosso No. 1
for four alphorns and orchestra | 30'
world prem. 28.03.2014, Herkulessaal, Munich; hornroh modern alphornquartet; Symphonieorchester des Bayerischen Rundfunks, cond. Susanna Mälkki

Here is the Irish Times’ take on last week’s New Music Dublin Festival, which took place at the National Concert Hall. The festival was attended by Harrison Birtwistle, who was on stage for a pre-performance discussion and gave a public interview.

On the programme were, among other works, Georg Friedrich Haas’ String Quartet No. 1 and “In iij. Noct.”,and Birtwistle’s Earth Dances.

Read the full article on the Irish Times.

Another review of the festival ist available on Golden Plec: “The [Arditti Quartet’s] performances are beyond belief, with a scintillating sound and commitment to the music” - congratulations!

Tonight at the Musikverein, Vienna: the Berliner Philharmoniker and Sir Simon Rattle with their sold-out performance of Brahms, Debussy and the Austrian première of Georg Friedrich Haas’ highly acclaimed dark dreams.

Read the New York Times’ review of dark dreams.

View the full study score:

The New York Times has reviewed Georg Friedrich Haas’ dark dreams. Read the full review online.

The world première will be followed by national premières in Belgium, Luxembourg and Austria in March; the United States première will take place on 6 October at Carnegie Hall.

The composer on dark dreams:

“The high level of both orchestra and conductor, and Simon Rattle’s high opinion of in vain, initially rather paralyzed than encouraged me. […] I didn’t intend to have a contrabassoon solo – but it soon became clear that it had to be there. There was this incredible performer [Sophie Dartigalongue], so that the possibility for the solo was created.”

View the full study score of dark dreams:

Georg Friedrich Haas: dark dreams
for orchestra | 23'
national premières: 03.03.2014, Laeiszhalle, Hamburg; 04.03.2014, Palais des Beaux-Arts, Brussels; 05.03.2014, Philharmonie, Luxembourg; 06.03.2014, Philharmonie, Köln; 07.03.2014, Musikverein, Vienna; 06.10.2014, Carnegie Hall, New York; Berliner Philharmoniker, cond. Simon Rattle

Simon Rattle, Georg Friedrich Haas and the Berlin Philharmonic at the rehearsals of dark dreams at the Philharmonie Berlin.

dark dreams was premièred on 20 February 2014, a video recording of a full performance of the piece is currently in processing and will soon be available at the Berlin Philharmonic’s Digital Concert Hall.

Sasha Waltz & Guests’ choreography Métamorphoses will be performed at the Teatro Comunale Ferrara on 21 February. Among the pieces performed during Métamorphoses will be Georg Friedrich Haas’ String Quartet No. 2 and Open Spaces for 12 string instruments and 2 percussionists; Titus Engel conducts the Mahler Chamber Orchestra.

Find out more at sasha waltz & guests.

Tomorrow, 18 January, BBC Radio 3’s Hear and Now will broadcast a recording of the London première of Georg Friedrich Haas’ in vain.

The concert was performed by the London Sinfonietta under Emilio Pomàrico on 6 December 2013 at the Southbank Centre’s The Rest is Noise Festival.

Furthermore, Tom Service will present an interview with the composer.

The show will be online until 26 January, listen on BBC Radio 3.

Tom Service has interviewed Georg Friedrich Haas before the London Sinfonietta’s sold out performance of in vain (conductor: Emilio Pomàrico) on 6 December at the Queen Elizabeth Hall in London.

The interview and the recording of in vain will be broadcast on BBC Radio 3’s contemporary music programme Hear and Now on 18 January.

The rehearsals for Georg Friedrich Haas’ in vain are going well, the London première of the work for 24 instruments will take place today at the Queen Elizabeth Hall and will be preceded by a conversation with the composer.

Emilio Pomàrico conducts the London Sinfonietta.

Georg Friedrich Haas: in vain
for 24 instruments | 70'
2 1 2 1 - 2 0 2 0 - perc(2), hp, acc, pno, sax, vln(3), vla(2), vc(2), cb
06.12.2013, Queen Elizabeth Hall, London; London Sinfonietta, cond. Emilio Pomàrico

The Royal College of Music hosts a workshop with Georg Friedrich Haas today at the RCM, where the composer will talk about his recent works.

The event starts at 2:30pm GMT and is free, but tickets are required and can be booked here. Haas’ String Quartet No. 2 will be performed at the venue by students of the RCM.

Find out more on the homepage of the Austrian Cultural Forum London.

Georg Friedrich Haas: String Quartet No. 2
for string quartet | 18'
05.12.2013, Royal College of Music, London; RCM students

Georg Friedrich Haas at the Galerie Nikolaus Ruzicska in front of an installation by Maurizio Nannucci, and at the Mozarteum Salzburg, where Wohin bist du gegangen? was premièred yesterday, 27.11.2013, by the Klangforum Wien and the Salzburger Bachchor under Clement Power.

Georg Friedrich Haas’ Wohin bist du gegangen? for choir and 17 instruments will be premièred today, 27 November, at this year’s Dialogues festival (27 November to 1 December) of the Salzburg Mozarteum Foundation in the concert session “Central Park in the Dark”.

Wohin bist du gegangen? is based on texts by the Persian poet Attar of Nishapur (ca.1136–ca.1220) in a free translation by the composer. The male and female voices are separated by the ensemble (with the men on one side and the women on the other). At the beginning of the work, the situation is akin to a traditional performance, but within only a few seconds the light is dimmed until the concert hall is in total darkness.

View the full programme of Dialogues Light.

Wohin bist du gegangen?
for choir and 17 instruments | 12'
1 1 1 1 - 1 1 1 1 - perc(2), acc, pno, vln, vln, vla, vc, cb
world prem. 27.11.2013, Mozarteum; Salzburger Bachchor; Klangforum Wien, cond. Clement Power

Five works by Georg Friedrich Haas will be performed at the Bludenzer Tage zeitgemäßer Musik [Bludenz contemporary music days], four of which will be performed by the ensemble recherche. The festival runs from 20 to 23 November.

Georg Friedrich Haas on his various versions of „... aus freier Lust ... verbunden ...”:

Each of the work’s ten individual parts is simultaneously a solo piece; to state it differently, the ensemble piece is an interlacing of ten completely independent, autonomous solos. […] As regards pitch, the parts are bound together by an identical harmonic structure, although it is to be noted that in the solo parts “harmony” is thought of primarily as the effect of successive sound events. As for form, caesuras and units are formed in each individual part, not only independently of other instruments, but also simultaneously with them (as a sort of “solidarity”).

The full programme of the festival in Vorarlberg is available here.

Nach-Ruf ... ent-gleitend ...
for flute, oboe, clarinet, violin, viola, violoncello | 16'
„... aus freier Lust ... verbunden ...”
for bass clarinet in Bb | 11'
„... aus freier Lust ... verbunden ...”
for viola | 11'
tria ex uno
for flute, clarinet, percussion, piano, violin and violoncello | 12'
20.11.2013, Remise, Bludenz; ensemble recherche

de terrae fine
for violin solo | 17'
22.11.2013, Remise, Bludenz ; soloist of the Formalist Quartet

The latest Universal Edition newsletter, with information on world premières by David Fennessy, Wolfgang Rihm, Georg Friedrich Haas, and Alban Berg, is avaialble here.

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