It is with fire and passion that we celebrate three important birthdays in 2019: German composer Spahlinger (75), and the Swiss composers Holliger (80) and Schneider (80). The musician Heinz Holliger will appear as a performer in our program: the radically reduced piano pieces, of which Schoenberg wrote five “in one day as if creatively intoxicated”, have been arranged for chamber ensemble.

On the occasion of Urs Peter Schneider’s 80th birthday, he is writing something surprising for us. We are curious as to how fiery and lavish it will be. All will be revealed!

“A fury of disappearance” has been used to describe the title work by Spahlinger in the press. It was written in 1991-92 at the request of the WDR Cologne. Spahlinger called it a kind of ‘self-therapy’ because he deliberately manoeuvred himself into a situation in which he was forced to want to compose / to do something he could not justify from the outset. He wanted to oppose the impending process of ‘institutionalisation’ of his composing career that resulted in this fiery and passionate work! New music expert Thomas Meyer will be our guide to the music with one of his now legendary ‘sonic analyses’.