Karlheinz Stockhausen: CARRÉ
for 4 orchestra and 4 choirs (4 conductors)

Bochumer Symphoniker
Chorwerk Ruhr
Rupert Huber (*Orchestra and choir I)
Florian Helgath (*Orchestra and choir II)
Matilda Hofman (*Orchestra and choir III)
Michael Alber (*Orchestra and choir IV)
Musikalische Leitung

Mauricio Kagel: CHORBUCH
for vocal ensemble and pianos
Christoph Schnackertz ⋅ piano
Christoph Lehmann ⋅ organ, harmonium
Chorwerk Ruhr
Florian Helgath ⋅ musical direction

Bach’s four-part chorale movements were “a musical experience of the first order”, said Mauricio Kagel – who would want to contradict him? Of course, something entirely new emerges from Kagel’s engagement with them – his choir book reinterprets the principle that Kagel recognised in the chorales and described somewhat succinctly: “Above, the peaceful congregation sings; below, it seethes.” The complexity of the sonic result can be guessed from his inspiration: “I heard in me a music that oscillated between Gesualdo and Max Reger.” With Karlheinz Stockhausen, Chorwerk Ruhr confronts Kagel with an antipode: he wrote Carré at the same place of activity, Cologne. As the name suggests, the arrangement of four orchestras, conducted by four conductors, plays the decisive role here, each complemented by a choral group. The extremely precise timing of the four conductors’ assignments results in a “very complex network of gears”, according to Florian Helgath. Listening to it, one can only say: challenge passed.