Lontano

In the organizer's words:

Concert at the Heidelberg Congress Center

1st Philharmonic Concert / György Ligeti: "Lontano" for large orchestra / Tōru Takemitsu: "Michi" (Paths) for trumpet / Charles Ives: "The Unanswered Question" / Gustav Mahler: Symphony No. 1 in D major "Titan"

"Lontano" - Italian for "far away" - is one of György Ligeti's most impressive orchestral works: artfully woven, a composition in clusters, "harmonic crystallization", as Ligeti calls his compositional process. "Lontano" has not only conquered a permanent place in the concert hall, it has also found its way into Hollywood blockbusters as film music.

Tōru Takemitsu's trumpet solo "Michi" (Paths) leads to Charles Ives' "The Unanswered Question" in question and answer form. Against a backdrop of long, chorale-like string chords, a trumpet part intones a questioning motif again and again in Ives' work.

"Truth and poetry in tones" - as Gustav Mahler said of his Symphony No. 1. Inwardly connected to the symphonies of Beethoven and Bruckner, Mahler's first work offers a striking renewal of sound: natural lutes, folk song-like melodies and grotesque funeral march sounds.