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NEOS 12015CD
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Ernst Helmuth Flammer's oratorio "Der Turmbau zu Babel" (The Tower of Babel) was commissioned for the 25th anniversary of the "Hanover New Music Days" in 1983. The world premiere took place under the direction of Klaus Bernbacher with excellent interpreters such as Catherine Gayer (soprano), Günter Binge (baritone), Theophil Maier (speaker), the Chor des Norddeutschen Rundfunks and the Nordwestdeutsche Philharmonie in the broadcasting hall of the NDR Hanover on January 29, 1983. Ernst Helmuth Flammer: "The oratorio is dedicated to all those who were forced to give up their lives in the struggle for freedom, justice and a dignified coexistence; all undaunted who accepted great personal sacrifices in following an unswerving moral path." "Der Turmbau zu Babel" is dedicated to Klaus Bernbacher. For three orchestral groups, three choirs, two solo voices (soprano and baritone), speaker, quadrophonic playback and live electronics, on texts by Friedrich Schiller, Arthur Schopenhauer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Richard Wagner, Niccolò Machiavelli, and Kurt Tucholsky.
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NEOS 11909CD
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This CD with orchestral works by Ernst Helmuth Flammer is the fifth edition with works by the composer at NEOS. The compositions presented here date from 1983-1999. They all deal with the phenomenon of time in different ways; whereby Flammer is concerned with the architectural/energetic organization of time within a composition, as well as the musical-historical point in time of their creation and thus a temporal classification in an aesthetic sense -- namely an "aesthetically rigorous approach" (Flammer). The piano concerto "Zeitzeichen - Zeitmaße" was recorded with Ortwin Stürmer and the BBC Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Lothar Zagrosek. Also features: Radio-Sinfonieorchester Basel - Ulrich Backofen, conductor; Philharmonisches Orchester Freiburg - Hannu Koivula, conductor - Ortwin Stürmer, piano; BBC Symphony Orchestra - Lothar Zagrosek, conductor.
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CD
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NEOS 11706CD
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After CDs featuring orchestral works, organ pieces and string quartets by Ernst Helmuth Flammer, NEOS is now releasing a CD of chamber music. On this disc, the composer investigates the phenomenon of time frequently and intensively, and sheds light on various aspects of it from both a musical as well as a philosophical perspective. Composed in 1988, "Zeitflucht" ("Time-Flight"), for example, explores the difference between the subjectively perceived and actually measurable passage of time, while in "Dahingegangen" ("Passed Away") from 1992 the transition into the hereafter, in other words beyond time and beyond real existence, is explored. The CD concludes with what Flammer calls a "closing piece for a chamber music ensemble", "All Ding will haben ein End" ("All Things Come to an End") (scored for a Pierrot ensemble) -- the composer wishes its rondo form to be understood as a symbol of the existential process of "becoming and passing away".
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CD/SACD
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NEOS 11618CD
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E. H. Flammer presents two enormous works, asking the listener for intense and long-lasting attention -- with String Quartet No. 4 lasting about ten minutes longer than even Beethoven's famous Op. 132 -- but once it begins the listener will be unable to think of anything else. Voyage éternel de l'oiseau de feu (The journey through time of the firebird), evokes that ever-inquisitive creature, always on the way to new shores, pouncing with carefree verve on the new, which stands for an obsession with a journey into the infinite, harshly interrupted time and again by the "troublemaker" (Kurt Schwitters's "error in the system"), yet finally departing forever into the virtual, into the open. The Jade Quartett -- Hanlin Liang, violin; Hyunji You, violin; Igor Michalski, viola; Shihyu You-Holz, cello -- takes its name not only from the substance, but is also a portmanteau of "Ja" (a romanization of the Mandarin word for "Asia") and "DE," the country code of the ensemble's adopted country of Germany. This connection is also programmatic for the quartet, which is especially concerned with performing works from their Asian homeland as well as the classical European quartet repertoire.
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2CD
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NEOS 10913-14CD
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Ernst Helmuth Flammer is one of the leading organ composers of our time. The connection between Flammer's superverso, performed here by Christoph Maria Moosmann, and Olivier Messiaen's great organ cycles is unmistakable, though the superverso is far more advanced in its musical design and language than Messiaen's work, only because it was composed considerably later. The superverso per organo, unlike Messiaen's great organ cycle Livre du Saint Sacrement, dispenses with specifically theological titles for its individual pieces in favor of musical and technical titles. But both share the grand design of the overall program. Trinitas on the one hand, and Sein und Zeit (Being and Time) on the other, as non-mythological, rational, natural, philosophical approaches that correlate faith, in the Cartesian sense, out of a superior creative authority that orders our world. Flammer was born in Heilbronn, Germany, in 1949. He studied mathematics and physics from 1969 until 1972; there followed studies in music theory with Peter Förtig from 1973 until 1979; and then musicology, art history, and philosophy with Hans Heinrich Eggebrecht in Freiburg from 1972 until 1980. He wrote his dissertation on Luigi Nono and Hans Werner Henze. He studied composition with Klaus Huber, Brian Ferneyhough, and Paul-Heinz Dittrich from 1976 onward.
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CD/SACD
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NEOS 10803CD
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Featured works: "Interferenza Mente Sovrapposizione" (1988-1990) for violoncello, orchestra and live electronics performed by Werner F. Selge (violoncello), SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden un Freiburg, Lothar Zagrosek (conductor), EXPERIMENTALSTUDIO des SWR, Ernst Helmuth Flammer (sound director). "Das Erschwiegene Wort!... Ausgeweitet?" (1993/1994) for solo percussion and orchestra, performed by Yuko Suzuki (percussion), SWR Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, Olaf Henzold, conductor. Stereo/multichannel hybrid SACD that can be played on any CD player.
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