PHILHARMONIA OCTET PRAGUE

Gustav Mahler (1860–1911): Songs from the collection Des Knaben Wunderhorn (The Boy´s Magic Horn) – Adapted by Tomáš Ille

ISANG YUN – OCTET

Leoš Janáček (1854–1928): Suite from the opera From the House of the Dead – Adapted by Tomáš Ille

Only the last half-century has shown how important the work of Gustav Mahler was for 20th century music. The author, who was also a recognized conductor and composer in his lifetime, combined melancholy, pathos and grandeur with irony and a sneer, and he was not afraid to place a monumentally and romantically exalted expression next to quotations from profane music. Mahler´s work was often downplayed and mocked after his death. Today, however, he is one of the most respected composers from the turn of the 20th century. Mahler composed the extensive song cycle based on the texts of folk songs from the collection The Boy´s Magic Horn by Clemens Brentan and Achim von Arnim between 1888 and 98. The first cycle was created in 1888-90, when Mahler set nine poems to music for piano and voice. He returned to the collection from 1892-98, when he conceived new songs for voice and orchestra. The author thus set a total of twenty-four texts from the collection to music if one includes the songs he composed as part of his 2nd, 3rd and 4th symphonies. The songs from The Boy´s Magic Horn are diverse – melancholy, humorous, military, pious, etc. However, Mahler´s versions have one thing in common: they display an extraordinary inventiveness which is far from being merely a show of cleverness. The author later arranged the first part of the cycle for the symphony orchestra. The composer Tomáš Ille has now adapted it to be played by a chamber brass ensemble.

Probably Leoš Janáček’s most progressive musical and dramatic work is his last opera From the House of the Dead. The opera production of Dostoevsky´s novel The House of the Dead takes us to the setting of a Russian prison camp, where the horrible lives of those who are rejected and forgotten are described by the composer with impressive skill through insights into the convicts’ lives based mainly on stories told by the individual prisoners. Janáček composed unbelievably dramatic and inherently harsh music for the opera, masterfully reflecting the environment as well as the miserable mental states of the convicts. There are, however, also gentle places full of understanding and forgiveness. The composer wrote into the motto of the opera: “In every creature a spark of God”. The score is undoubtedly remarkable, so it is no wonder that it has seen various adaptations, most often into the form of a suite. At the premiere we will hear the suite adapted for a chamber brass ensemble for the first time.

Author: Jiří Zahrádka