IN DIALOGUE WITH BEETHOVEN 2020
Updated: Apr 9, 2021
Curatorial Statement
Goethe-Institut Hongkong partners with Hong Kong New Music Ensemble and The University of Hong Kong in celebrating Ludwig van Beethoven's 250th birthday.
Hong Kong New Music Ensemble celebrates Beethoven in 2020 through exploring the dimensions of the miniature, the embryonic and the intangible: three short programmes featuring transcriptions, rarely-performed works by the great German master, and works that bear traces of his influences (from Liszt to the The Beatles). The series culminates with the exploration of Beethoven's compositional sketches and drafts treated as raw materials for new music.
Co-Curators:
William Lane/ Artistic Director, Hong Kong New Music Ensemble
Prof. Giorgio Biancorosso/ Professor (Music) & Director, Society of Fellows in the Humanities, The University of Hong Kong
In Dialogue with Beethoven 2020 concert no.1: LEGACY
This programme honours and showcases Beethoven's breathtaking originality, as well as his lasting influence on future generations of composers. The elegiac first movement of the "Moonlight" Sonata finds its sentiments echoed here in the last movement of Shostakovich's Viola Sonata; meanwhile, the highly demanding transcription of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony finds its diametrically opposed counterpart in the 2020 REMIX of John Lennon's Because, written in 1969.
Programme:
L.v. Beethoven: Piano Sonata no.14 in C♯ minor “Moonlight” (1801) - I.
2020 REMIX of John Lennon’s Because (1969)
L.v. Beethoven, arr. F. Liszt: Symphony no.5 in C minor (1804-08/1837) - I.*
D. Shostakovich: Sonata for Viola and Piano (1975) - III.
Performers:
Linda Yim, piano
Shelley Ng, piano*
William Lane, viola
In Dialogue with Beethoven 2020 concert no.2: THE UNKNOWN
Recorded on the day of Beethoven's birthday, this concert features the rarely performed Serenade for flute, violin & viola by a young Beethoven, preceded by Hong Kong composer Charles Kwong’s early chamber work Here the world expires, which features the same instrumentation. The concert opens and closes with a miniature-hommage for electronics by Angus Lee, which is accompanied by behind-the-scenes footages of preparations for Crossroads, the final event in this series, which unravels Beethoven's creative process through examining and decrypting a number of primary source documents, including manuscripts.
HKNME YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dW45fidPcvk
HKNME Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hongkongnewmusicensemble
Goethe-Institut Hongkong Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/goetheinstitut.hongkong
Programme:
Angus Lee: Waiting for Ludwig van (memegraphic tribute to Alexander DeLarge) (2020) for electronics
Charles Kwong: Here the world expires(2012/15) for flute, violin and viola
L.v. Beethoven: Serenade in D major (1795-96) for flute, violin and viola
Performers:
Angus Lee, flute
Patrick Yim, violin
William Lane, viola
Production:
Giorgio Biancorosso & William Lane (co-curators)
Chris Tam (audio)
Kal Ng & New Breed Concept (video)
Venue support:
Music Department, University of Hong Kong
In Dialogue with Beethoven 2020 concert no.3: CROSSROADS
The third event Crossroads is expected to take place in April 2021 and will be presented in the form of a multimedia concert installation.
PARTNERS
