Date / Place
30 August 2020 Stadt-Casino BaselSeries
PhoenixTitle
Swiss Composers IProgram
Jacques Wildberger (1922–2006) “Zeitebenen” for 8 players (1958) – 22’ Alfred Knüsel (*1941) “Vier Akte der Verwandlung” for bass flute, percussion and piano (2020, WP, commission EPhB) – 20’ Christoph Delz (1950–1993) “Siegel” op. 3 for wind ensemble, percussion and piano (1976) – 23’Musicians
- Manuel Bärtsch
- piano solo
- Jürg Henneberger
- conductor, piano
- Christoph Bösch
- flute, bass flute, piccolo
- Toshiko Sakakibara
- clarinet, clarinet in Eb, bass clarinet
- Donna Molinari
- clarinet
- Richard Haynes
- bass clarinet
- Lucas Rößner
- contraforte
- Jens Bracher
- piccolo trumpet
- Simon Lilly
- trumpet
- Michael Büttler
- trombone
- Daniel Stalder
- percussion
- Matthias Würsch
- percussion
- Dino Georgeton
- percussion
- Antoine Brocherioux
- percussion
- Consuelo Giulianelli
- harp
- Friedemann Treiber
- violin
- Stéphanie Meyer
- cello
- Christof Stürchler
- electronics
Program description
All three Swiss composers on this program are connected with Basel. Pianist Christoph Delz lived in Riehen until his early death. “Siegel” with its unmistakably brittle instrumentation (winds and percussion) is a piano concerto in disguise, which he premiered himself. Jacques Wildberger, also from Riehen has taught at the Basel Music Academy. His “Zeitebenen” led to controversial reactions at its premiere at the “Darmstädter Ferienkurse”. In this virtuoso piece, four instrumental duos dialogue with each other in various combinations. It has been played far too rarely since then and is worth rediscovering. Cellist Alfred Knüsel, born in Lucerne, lives in Basel. As a composer, he is more of an outsider and cannot be assigned to any established style. Each work forms its own “cosmos”. His new composition is a further development of his trio “Intarsie”, which he wrote in 2017 in memory of our friend and drummer Daniel Buess, who died prematurely in 2016.