Scharoun Ensemble

The Scharoun Ensemble is made up of members of the Berliner Philharmoniker who like to play chamber music as well as their orchestral work. They take as their basis the instruments used in Schubert's Octet. This ensemble has over the years built up a solid reputation in the performance of the twentieth-century German repertoire. On the occasion of the eightieth birthday of Hans Werner Henze (b. 1926), the ensemble will be performing his 'Quattro Fantasie' for octet. In this work Henze returns to three of the parts of his 'Kammermusik 1958', a twelve-part serenade based on Hölderlin's hymn 'In lieblicher Bläue'. In 1963 Henze added an Adagio as an epilogue. Jörg Widmann (b. 1973) a student of Henze's, has also composed an octet, which was first performed at the pianist Lars Vogt's 'Spannungen' Festival in Heimbach in June 2004. In this work Widmann puts the linearity of the various voices at the forefront, instead of working vertically with chords. The composer is here practising old counterpoint techniques, reinterpreting them in his own idiom. In the third part, 'Lied ohne Worte', by very sparing means, Widmann makes an oppressive tribute to Franz Schubert, 'pioneer' of the octet genre.