Ensemble Modern / Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart / SWR Experimentalstudio

Michael Wendeberg, conductor; Iannotta / Illés (WP)

Musikfest Berlin – Schriftzug Musikfest Berlin

Three different works explore liminal zones: beginning, transition, and end. In his new work, the Hungarian composer Márton Illés follows the path of the poet Felix Reinhuber on his search for the origins of language several millions of years ago. The Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart and Ensemble Modern are brought together under the baton of Michael Wendeberg with the SWR Experimentalstudio from Freiburg in this speculative research into sound and speech in which the birth of language reveals a history of origins – full of possibilities, full of abundant potential. In contrast, They left us grief-trees wailing at the wall by Italian composer Clara Iannotta – following the traces of the poet Dorothy Molloy – focuses on the definitive end: lamenting, enigmatic and yet simultaneously full of the love of life. Her work echo from afar (ii) explores her experience of radiotherapy as well as the associated sounds as a sonic phenomenon.

Did music originate from language or vice versa? Its origins remain a mystery and it is most probable that there was not a single beginning, but instead a number of different starting points. Clara Iannotta and Márton Illes, two representatives of contemporary music who are idiosyncratic in the best sense of the word, take their inspiration from lyrical poets. Iannotta has long been fascinated by the poetry of the Irish author Dorothy Molloy which has already provided the foundations for works such as They left us grief-trees wailing at the wall. The Italian composer responds to the surreal scene of an acoustic wailing wall with a journey through a tonal world possessing scant associations with the accustomed sound of classical instruments. The instruments are transformed through their preparation with adhesive tape, polystyrene and cardboard and are played in an unorthodox manner, revealing a different identity and shifting the coordinates of the customary system. 

Drawing on the experience that everything that seems certain can suddenly no longer be taken for granted, the chamber work with electronics echo from afar (ii) was created. Written after a course of radiation therapy, Clara Iannotta processes her acoustic memories of the treatment in this piece, oscillating between fear and hope. The music is not a depiction of illness; rather, the composer seeks an expression for “this invisible force that changes you from within” – and in doing so places her trust in a new beginning.

Márton Illés, a composer who barely leaves any details of his highly differentiated exploration of sounds and noise to pure chance, speculates with the aid of the poet Felix Reinhuber on the origins of articulation. The journey back to the beginning of time represents an attempt to ignore all tried and tested parameters in order to become active beyond traditional formal languages. It is no paradox that the dream of time immemorial is supported with live electronics from the SWR Experimentalstudio. The employment of technology can help to overcome numerous thresholds both in the departure into the unknown and the return in the opposite direction.

Clara Iannotta (*1983) 

They left us grief-trees wailing at the wall (2020)

for 9 amplified instruments and electronics

echo from afar (ii) (2022)

for six musicians and electronics

Márton Illés (*1975)

von mund zu mund (2026) 

for voices, ensemble and live electronics  

based on a text by Felix Reinhuber 

Commissioned by Ensemble Modern, Neue Vocalsolisten Stuttgart, SWR Experimentalstudio and Berliner Festspiele / Musikfest Berlin, with the support of the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung

World premiere

Artists/Collaborators: Michael Acker, Maurice Oeser, Michael Wendeberg

A project by Ensemble Modern, funded by the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung and the Ensemble Modern Patronatsgesellschaft e. V., with the friendly support of the SWR Experimentalstudio

A Berliner Festspiele / Musikfest Berlin event

Work introduction

18:10, Upper Foyer

Next date:

• Date Friday, 18/September/2026 19:00
• Venue Philharmonie Berlin – Kammermusiksaal
• Address Herbert-von-Karajan-Straße 1, 10785 Berlin-Tiergarten