Rubble Music.

After the catastrophe of the Second World War and the Holocaust, Europe was broken. Its cities in ruins, and the souls of its survivors irrevocably altered.

What art could arise from this rubble? Can anything of the old world be salvaged?

Forest Collective explores the incredible music and poetry birthed from the immediate aftermath of these horrors - the so-called Trȕmmerliteratur - and its long artistic shadows cast through the 20th and 21st centuries. 

The defiant poetry of holocaust survivor Paul Celan, and the bitter anguish of returned conscript Wolfgang Borchert’s play The Man Outside, are combined with music from 20th century masters Aribert Reimann, Isabel Mundry and Karlheinz Stockhausen.

Yet bastions of the old world remain among the rubble – the sweet lyricism of Jewish-German composer Franz Schrecker, whose works were branded ‘degenerate’ by the regime. Likewise, pillars of high German culture, like Robert Schumann’s lieder settings of Heinrich Heine (who was himself Jewish), stand out as bittersweet reminders of a romanticism, now gone.

Forest Collective’s bold vision and virtuosity brings this world to life in a one-night-only performance that shines a light of courage into dark places.

"There is nothing in the world for which a poet will give up writing, not even when he is a Jew and the language of his poems is German."  - Paul Celan.

The performance features Aleise Bright (soprano), Danaȅ Killian (piano), Kim Tan (flutes), and Daniel Szesiong Todd (spoken word), and the full Forest Collective ensemble, led by conductor Evan J Lawson.

Church of All Nations

180 Palmerston Street
Carlton

Friday 27 March
7pm

Robert Schumann (1810–1856)
Fantasiestück: Des Abends, Op. 12 No. 1, für Klavier (1837)
Fantasy Piece: Evening, Op. 12 No.1, for piano (1837)

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007)
Klavierstück III (1952)
Piano Piece III (1952)

Isabel Mundry (*1963)
Wenn: Lied, mit und ohne Worte nach einem Gedicht von Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) (aus „Belsazar”) für Sopran und Klavier (2006)

If: Song, with and without words after a poem by Heinrich Heine (1797–1856) (from “Belsazar”), for soprano and piano (2006)

Wolfgang Borchert (1921–1947), transl. Daniel Szesiong Todd
Draußen vor der Tür: Vorspiel—gesprochenes Wort zwischen Gott, dem Tod, dem alten Mann und einem Beerdigungsunternehmer (1946)

The Man Outside: Prelude—spoken word between God, Death, the Old Man, and an Undertaker (1946)

Aribert Reimann (1936–2024)
Fünf Lieder nach Gedichten von Paul Celan (1920–1970) für Singstimme und Klavier (2006)
Five Songs after poems by Paul Celan (1920–1970), for voice and piano (2006)

i Komm | Come
ii Das Leuchten | The Glowing
iii Ein Ring | A Ring
iv Es wird | It will
v Wir | We

INTERVAL

Aribert Reimann (1936–2024)
März, nach einem Text von Günter Grass, für Sprecher und Bassflöte (1966)
March, after a text by Günter Grass, for solo bass flute and narrator (1966)

Isabel Mundry (*1963)
Lied für Mezzosopran und Klavier (2017) Text von Inger Christensen (1935–2009)
Lied for mezzosoprano and piano (2017) Text by Inger Christensen (1935–2009)

Arnold Schoenberg (1874–1951)
Suite für Klavier, Op. 25 (1923)
Suite for piano, Op. 25 (2023)

i Präludium
ii Gavotte – Musette – Gavotte
iii Intermezzo
iv Menuett – Trio – Menuett
v Gigue

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928–2007)
Ypsilon für ein Melodie-Instrument mit Mikro-Tönen (Version für Flöte) (1989)
Ypsilon for a melodic instrument with microtones (version for flute) (1989)

Franz Schreker (1878–1934), arr. Evan J Lawson (*1989)
Fünf Lieder, Op. 4, für Hohestimme und gemischtes Kammerensemble (arr. aus der Klavierversion)
Five Songs, Op. 4, for high voice and chamber orchestra (arr. from the piano version)

i Unendliche Liebe | Endless Love (Leo Tolstoy)
ii Frühling | Spring (Karl von Lemayer)
ii Wohl fühl ich wie das Leben rinnt | Well Do I Feel How Life Trickles Away (Theodor Storm)
iv Die Liebe als Recensentin | Love as Critic (Julius Sturm)
v Lenzzauber | Spring Magic (Ernst Scherenberg)

Aleise Bright voice soloist
Danaë Killian piano soloist
Kim Tan flute soloist
Daniel Szesiong Todd spoken word

Alex Macdonald viola
Evan J Lawson conductor
Ian Crossfield double bass
May Zeng violin
Phoebe Smithies horn
Ryan Lynch clarinet
Rosanne Huntcello
Trea Hindleytrombone

Presented by Forest Collective.

General Admission
- first release (until 1 February) $35
- second release (1 February - 1 March) $40
- third release (from 1 March) $45
Students/Under 18 - $15
Pension Concession $20
Group of 4 people - $28 each

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