“Gassenhauer Trio”

Ensemble Phoenix Basel
plays
classical – romantic
chamber music
with
clarinet, cello and piano
von
Beethoven, Bruch und Brahms

Saturday, 10th of June 2017, 21.00 h
Bar Carambolage Basel

Toshiko Sakakibara – clarinet
Martin Jaggi – cello
Jürg Henneberger – piano

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827):
“Trio” for clarinet, cello and piano op. 11 in B flat major “Gassenhauer” (1797)
–        Allegro con brio
–        Adagio
–        Tema: Pria ch’io l’impegno – Allegretto – Var. I–IX

Max Bruch (1838–1920):
from “Eight Pieces” for clarinet, cello and piano op. 83 (1908/09)
1.     Andante (a-Moll)
2.     Allegro con moto (h-Moll)
3.     Andante con moto (cis-Moll)
4.     Allegro agitato (d-Moll)

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897):
“Trio” for pianoforte, clarinetto and cello op. 114 in a-Moll (1891)
–        Allegro
–        Adagio
–        Andantino grazioso
–        Allegro

Carambolage Bar, Erlenstrasse 34, 4058 Basel

“fantasies and fugues”

four hands piano music
with
Jürg Henneberger and Kirill Zvegintsov, piano

Thursday, 4th of January 2018, 21.30 h
OFF Bar Basel

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791):
“Fantasy” in f minor for mechanical organ “Ein Orgelstück für eine Uhr” (an organ piece for a clock), arrangement for piano four hands (1791)

–        Allegro
–        Andante
–        Tempo primo

Franz Schubert (1797–1828):
“Fantasy” in f minor for piano four hands op. 103 / D 940 (1828)

–        Allegro molto moderato
–        Largo
–        Allegro vivace
–        Tempo I

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827):
“Grande Fugue” (tantôt libre, tantôt recherchée) / “Grosse Fuge” (grand fugue) B flat major for piano four hands op. 134 after the fugue for string quartet from op. 133 (1826)

–        Overtura: Allegro – meno mosso e moderato
–        Fuga: Allegro – meno mosso e moderato – Allegro molto e con brio

OFF Bar, Offenburgerstrasse 59, 4057 Basel

Ludwig van Beethoven

Chamber music for violin, cello and piavno

Tuesday, 7th of May 2019, 21.00 h

in der OFF Bar Basel

Friedemann Treiber – violin
Martin Jaggi – cello
Jürg Henneberger – piano

Ludwig van Beethoven (1770–1827):
“Sonata” op. 12 Nr. 3 for piano and violin in E flat major (1797/98)
Dedicated to Antonio Salieri
–        Allegro con spirito
–        Adagio con molta espressione
–        Rondo: Allegro molto

Ludwig van Beethoven:
“Sonata” op. 102 Nr. 1 for piano and cello in C major (1815)
Dedicated to countess Marie von Erdődy
–        Andante – vivace
–        Adagio – Allegro vivace

Ludwig van Beethoven:
“Trio” op. 70 Nr. 2 for piano, violin and cello in E flat major (1809)
Dedicated to countess Marie von Erdődy
–        Poco sostenuto – Allegro ma non troppo
–        Allegretto
–        Allegretto ma non troppo
–        Finale: Allegro

OFF Bar, Offenburgerstrasse 59, 4057 Basel

Almost from the very beginning, the EPhB has repeatedly focussed on the music and person of Morton Feldman. Fascinated by his inimitably unique language, its expressiveness and depth, as well as the multi-layered interweaving of Morton Feldman’s personality with artists and musicians of his time, his music has become an integral part of EPhB’s programmes.

After having programmed several extended works with very small ensembles, such as “For Philip Guston” and “For Christian Wolff”, we are now devoting ourselves to works with medium-sized ensembles and – untypically for Feldman – of extremely short duration. In chronological order, the programme spans a creative process of twenty-five years (1951–1976) and thus directs the listener’s “gaze” towards changes as well as the profound consistency and coherence in Feldman’s work. Stylistically, it covers almost all the styles that Feldman explored until he found his unmistakable late style, which announces itself with “Routine Investigations”, e.g. graphic notation (“Projections”); Feldman’s “pointillist”, post-Webernian phase (“Two Pieces”, “Piece for 7 Instruments”); indefinite long durations of sounds with uncoordinated interplay (“Durations”) as well as his homage to a great painter friend (“De Kooning”).

Feldman’s unmistakable late style is heralded by “Routine Investigations”.

Jürg Henneberger

“Mouvement”

Ensemble Phoenix Basel & OpusNovus In Concert
Saturday, October 6, 2018, 7:30 PM
Conservatory Orchestra Hall
YST Conservatory, Singapore, 117376, Singapore

with OpusNovus:

Michael Finnissy (*1946):
“Not envious of Rabbits” for unspecified ensemble (2006)

John Cage (1912–1992):
“Six Melodies” for violin and keyboard instrument (1950)

Claude Vivier (1948–1983):
“Pulau Dewata” for variable ensemble (1977)

Kaija Saariaho (1952–2023):
“Je Sens Un Deuxième Coeur” (I feel a second heart) for viola, cello and piano (2003)
IV. Il faut que j’entre (I must come in)
V. Je sens un deuxième cœur qui bat tout près du mien (I feel another heart beating very close to mine)

with Ensemble Phoenix Basel & OpusNovus:

Helmut Lachenmann (*1935):
«Mouvement (– vor der Erstarrung)» (Movement – before congealing) for ensemble (1983/84)

Façade – an Entertainment combines the dazzling incidental music of William Walton with the surrealistic, onomatopoeic poems of the English poet Edith Sitwell, performed by the renowned Scottish voice artist and actor Graham F. Valentine. With her striving for freedom, Edith Sitwell fought against Victorian double standards and provoked many a scandal in the 1920s. Today, the rise of regressive forces repeatedly threatens our democratic values. Two new, explosive ensemble works by Swiss-based composers Asia Ahmetjanova and Charlotte Torres, which were premiered at the “Gare du Nord” Basel in April of this year, provide fresh courage in the program of Ensemble Phoenix Basel.

NAXOS Hallenkonzerte

Produktionshaus NAXOS
Waldschmidtstraße 19
60316 Frankfurt am Main

Unveiling the Universe
Art and Science Summit
70 years of discoveries at CERN

CERN Science Gateway
Sergio Marchionne Auditorium

15:00
Welcome. Charlotte Warakaulle, Director for International Relations, CERN, and Mónica Bello, Head of Arts at CERN.

15:15 – 17:45
Panel I: Fundamentals.
Moderated by Michael Doser.
Speakers: Alan Bogana, Julius von Bismarck, Roman Keller, Semiconductor (Ruth Jarman and Joe Gerhardt), and Tara Shears.

Panel II: The Unanswered Questions.
Moderated by José-Carlos Mariátegui.
Speakers: Chloé Delarue, Elisa Storelli, Rosa Barba, Tamara Vázquez-Schröder, and Yunchul Kim.

Panel III: Scientific Imaginations.
Moderated by Mónica Bello.
Speakers: Diego Blas, Chiara Mariotti, Lea Porsager, Patricia Domínguez, and Suzanne Treister.

18:00 – 18:45
Visit to the exhibition Exploring the Unknown with artists present.

19:00 – 20:40
Conversations with scientists. 70 years of discoveries “Unveiling the Universe”.
Moderated by Clara Nellist.
Speakers: David Gross, Djuna Croon, Gian Francesco Giudice, and Tara Shears.

21:00 – 21:30
“Enigma”, a work by visual artist Sigurður Guðjónsson (*1975) and composer Anna Þorvaldsdóttir (*1977). The music is performed live by the string quartet Ensemble Phoenix Basel.

In collaboration with “Musikpodium Zürich”


Is there a “Swissness” in terms of composing? Instead of an answer to this question, we confront the audience with three new works by Swiss composers from three generations, flanked by a work by our friend Erik Oña, who died much too early.

The youngest – Sebastian J. Meyer – is, like his teacher Erik Oña, in constant search of the best sound with reduced material, be it in terms of choice of instruments or compositional means.

Trumpet player, composer and improviser André Meier – also a former composition student of Erik Oña – deals in his compositional work mainly with algorithmic or machine processes, sonifications, modular and open forms.

The pianist and composer Jean-Jacques Dünki is also active as a musicologist, dealing with both historical performance practice (fortepiano and clavichord) and the composers of the New Viennese School and contemporary music. As a composer he is largely self-taught. He is writing a “Concertino” for cello and ensemble for the French cellist Pierre Strauch and us.

Two concerts in United Kingdom with Ensemble Phoenix Basel:

24.03.2013: at London Ear Festival at the Southbank Centre, London

25.03.2013: at St. Johns College (promoted by Kettles Yard), Cambridge

Concert at the festival «Imago Dei» with Ensemble Phoenix Basel:

29.03.2013: at Minoritenkirche, Krems an der Donau

Concert by the Ensemble Phoenix Basel

Friday, September 13, 2013, 7 p.m.

Traces of sound & language salt

New music and romantic heritage

Music and poetry / readings and concerts

Parkhotel and Kurhaus, Hall i. T.

“Sound Plasma” is a festival dedicated to promote a different view towards intonation.

The 6th edition of the festival experiments with new intonation ideas with a flavour of electroacoustic music. For the first time, a particular focus on music from Switzerland takes place in Tallinn and Berlin.

Festival’s highlights include the Estonian debut performance of Ensemble Phoenix Basel.

The festival reaches out to the Swiss music scene not only because of the impeccable quality of the music/performances but because of the nurturing effect the Swiss musical culture has on developing special and uncompromisingly unique musical voices.

After tackling various aspects of more established aesthetics, based on various intonation systems, the current edition of the festival dares to explore a brand new point of view with a basis in the electronic, and sometimes corny, sounds of the 70s and 80s.

Swiss composer and improviser Norbert Möslang, who comes from St. Gallen, composed a new work for the inauguration of the “Binary Clock” commissioned by the St. Gallen Building Authority.


Bandcamp

Concert as part of the festival “30 ans de l’OCG”.

The composer and improviser Norbert Möslang from St. Gallen (CH), has composed a new work for the inauguration of the “Binary Clock”, commissioned by “Hochbauamt St. Gallen”, which was premiered in April 2018 at “Bahnhofshalle St. Gallen” by musicians of the EPhB.  Now the composition “patterns” will be repeated at the “bâtimement des forces motrices” in Geneva.


Bandcamp

Swiss composer and improviser Norbert Möslang, who comes from St. Gallen, composed a new work for the inauguration of the “Binary Clock” commissioned by the St. Gallen Building Authority, which was premiered in April 2018 in the Bahnhofshalle St. Gallen by musicians from EPhB. Now the composition “patterns” will be performed again at Sitterwerk St. Gallen on the occasion of Möslang’s 70th birthday.


Bandcamp

Exceptional Turkish musician Aydın Esen can hardly be categorized. His main influences are jazz and 20th century classical music, the boundaries of which he crosses seemingly effortlessly as a virtuoso pianist and composer. Aydın Esen was born in Istanbul, where he began playing the piano at an early age. In Boston, he completed a degree at Berklee College of Music, which normally takes four years, in one year. After one of Aydın’s sessions with Pat Metheny in Boston, the latter simply asked, “How did you get so good?” Since his studies, he has won numerous prizes for his compositions as well as as a pianist (including First Prize at the Paris International Piano Competition in 1989). At “Big Basel Festival” EPhB will premiere a new work by Aydın Esen, which was composed for this formation on behalf of the “Big Basel” festival.

“Aydın Esen has been running his own laboratory for decades, pushing his music forward, away from all trends. As a listener, he gives us something like finds from this other world, which he is able to travel with his highly developed musical consciousness.” (Wolfgang Muthspiel)

Norbert Möslang, composer and improviser from St. Gallen, created a new work for the inauguration of the “Binary Clock” commissioned by the St. Gallen Building Department, which was premiered in April 2018 at the “Bahnhofshalle St. Gallen” by musicians of the EPhB. “patterns” is here repeated at the “Kunstmuseum St. Gallen” as part of the “Nachtschicht#18”.


Bandcamp

As part of the exhibition “Everything we do is music”, Kunsthaus Pasquart is hosting two concerts with EPhB that will highlight the influence of Indian classical music on Central European and American contemporary music.

Along with Maurice Delage, Albert Roussel was one of the first Western composers to undertake a study trip to India. In 1909, he and his wife made a long trip to India and Southeast Asia. The impressions of Indian music are reflected above all in the metre of the third movement “Krishna” from the cycle “Joueurs de flûte”, which deals playfully with irregular beats.

Olivier Messiaen’s main sources of inspiration, besides bird songs, were Indian rhythms, which play a leading role in “Cantéyodjayâ,” one of his first piano works, as well as in the “Turangalîla Symphony”, written almost simultaneously.

The three piano pieces “Elis” by the Swiss composer Heinz Holliger are inspired by lines of poetry by the Austrian poet Georg Trakl. Holliger illustrates the longing for death that speaks from the poems with Indian rhythms, some of which Olivier Messiaen also uses in his music.

Giacinto Scelsi’s work has been influenced since early years by Eastern philosophies, especially from India. In his “Quattro Illustrazioni” he describes four “avatars” of the Indian god Vishnu. The duo for flute and clarinet from 1966 entitled “Ko-Lho” is based on Scelsi’s “philosophy” of the single tone as the foundation of musically invoked transcendence. Scelsi’s preoccupation with non-European music led him away from “occidental” polyphony toward monophonic music enriched with microintervals and multiphonics.

The American composer John Cage was inspired by the Indian aesthetic “Rasa” in his “Sonatas and Interludes” (1946-48), the “String Quartet” (1950) and the “Six Melodies” (1950). The term “Rasa” refers to the mental state of joy and fulfillment, which cannot be put into words, that arises in the viewer when enjoying a successful work of art.

The North Indian Sarangi inspired the Swiss composer Martin Jaggi to write “Kôrd III”. Traditionally, the pitches on this instrument are produced with the nail bed of a finger of the left hand; the finger is thus placed between the string and the fingerboard and pressed against the string from below. For Jaggi, the sound of the Sarangi’s resonating strings comes from the piano: he has e-bows placed on the strings, which produce a quite extraordinary, rather technically cool, or in Jaggi’s words, a “magical sound”.

The driving rhythms of the fast parts are speech rhythms, derived from scientific lexicon entries about the Sarangi.

Jürg Henneberger

Gerald Bennett, co-founder of the Swiss Center for Computer Music (SZCM) and the Institute for Computer Music and Sound Technology (ICST), celebrates his 75th birthday this year. To mark this occasion, the SZCM, in collaboration with the ICST, is organizing a portrait concert featuring a selection of his instrumental and electroacoustic works.


Concept and organization
Lucas Bennett, Sabine Egli, Peter Färber, Johannes Schütt und Judith Winterhager

For many years, EPhB has been a regular guest at various festivals in Poland. Thus, the ensemble performed several times at the festival “Warsaw Autumn” (2006 and 2013), at the “Laboratorium Festival” (2005) and in Katowice (2004) and in summer 2016 as Ensemble in Residence in Sokolowsko, a small but very significant festival with great international appeal.

The invitation for two concerts to Gdansk for the New Music Days are further proof that Ensemble Phoenix Basel has an important mediating role in a country in the area of tension between great musical tradition and a serious hunger for the new in politically complex times.

The limited means of the festival let us refrain from a large-scale project. Nevertheless, the two programs spring from artistic ideas that make EPhB special.

On the one hand, an existing work entitled “Portfolio – land – material – people” will be performed again. In a long lasting composition process the flutist Christoph Bösch and the live-electronics player Thomas Peter have dealt with composition cells and so-called vignettes of the Swiss composer Katharina Rosenberger and expanded their material together with her. Based on images by three Swiss photographers (Robert Frank, Christian Lichtenberg and Sarah Girard), the basic idea for this project was the interdisciplinary confrontation between image and sound, or rather the preoccupation with the relationship between the predominant sense of sight and the sense of hearing, which (too) often “suffers” under this in interdisciplinary projects.

On the other hand, three new compositions by Christoph Bösch, Aleksander Gabryś and Thomas Peter will be heard, which were created especially for the festival in Gdansk.

The dual function of the three musicians, who have been working together for many years, as composers and interpreters of their own works promises a special charm.