symphony concert03

Space and divine light. Only at first glance are they in opposition to each other. Both are projection screens in the quest of humankind for the reflection of transcendence. Stanley Kubrick combined the two when he chose a section of Ligeti’s Lux aeterna for his film 2001: A Space Odyssey. Ligeti transformed the text of the Latin Mass into a glowing ribbon of tonal colors. François-Xavier Roth presents this brief choral piece before the performance of »A German Requiem« by Johannes Brahms. »It is a truly human requiem« was Clara Schumann’s judgment of this work, and with this she came to the heart of the matter. For the »German Requiem«, which was composed 150 years ago, focuses not on the dead but on the living. For the core purpose of this great choral work is »truly human«: to console. Brahms made his work accessible to every believer – and even to those who doubt. »Now I am like an eagle that can soar higher and higher«, was what Brahms felt after he had processed his own grief with the »German Requiem«.