KLANG Festival

Music from before the functional harmony took over, and from before it had moved on. Old and new that shines a light on each other through centuries.

The music in the first part of the concert is primarily sacral. King David mourning the death of his son Absolon in battle; Dufay's lament for the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in 1453; and Rachel's lament for her dead child, one of many killed by Herod's men in the slaughter of the innocents. These are set between two Marian motets by the Franco-Flemish composer Jean Mouton, which express the precious beauty and hope engendered by the birth of a child.

David Lang’s where you go creates a transition from the sacred to the more motley content in the newer works. The lyrics are from The Old Testament, from The Book of Ruth, where Ruth tells Naomi, that she will stay with her forever. A beautiful image of love, friendship and devotion from one person to another. From there onwards into the wild whirlwinds of new vocal music. Rhythmic chaos Andrew Hamilton. A calm spring sensation with Howard Skempton. The iconic Clapping Music of Steve Reich only for voices. The cosmic notes of Terry Riley.

And finally Pelle Gudmundsen-Holmgreen’s Three Stages, which he himself described as ”3 stages, places, situations, scenarios, characters, colours, images – a kind of Triptych: a city –image, a forest-image and a union of the two in shelter of Shakespeare’s sonnet no. 60  ”Like as the waves…”, whereof the three first lines are being performed like cantus firmus. In Three Stages Gudmundsen-Holmgreen quotes the composer Clement Janequin. The circle is joined between old and new.