Cerha: New work for seven voices

Stuttgart

On 11 February Friedrich Cerha’s latest work, 2 Szenen (2 scenes) for seven voices, will receive its world première at the ECLAT Festival in Stuttgart.

Cerha writes:

“The composition started with two numbers from my theatre-piece Netzwerk (Network), for which I invented a construed, artificial language, notated in the International Phonetic Alphabet. ‘Prosperity Conversation’ suggests the image of an infinitely bored society, in which only occasional, short discoveries suddenly excite resistance, which then quickly sinks back into lethargy, monotony and ultimately complete torpor.

By contrast, ‘Execution’ initially features the vain, self-aggrandising figure of the countertenor, juxtaposed with six people, dominating them; their increasingly aggressive behaviour unnerves him more and more, despite his pathetic attempts at self-defence, until he is finally forced to his knees to beg for discernment until only the sound of his groaning is left, before it dwindles to nothingness.”

Friedrich Cerha: 2 Szenen
for seven voices
world première: 11/2/2012, ECLAT Festival Stuttgart
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