Kammersymphonie Berlin

Jürgen Bruns, conductor

Alexandra Sostmann, piano

Works by Johann Sebastian Bach, Reinhard Febel (world premiere), Alexandre Tansman and Henryk Górecki

Bach Reimagined

The Agathenburger Bach Days draw to a close with a celebratory concert. Under the direction of Jürgen Bruns, Kammersymphonie Berlin presents a programme that traces musical connections across the centuries.

At the heart of the evening is the world premiere of a specially commissioned work for piano and string orchestra by the acclaimed composer and this year’s Composer-in-Residence, Reinhard Febel. Taking Johann Sebastian Bach’s Piano Concerto in G minor, BWV 1058, as his starting point, Febel explores its musical ideas and develops them further in a highly individual contemporary musical language.

The solo parts in both works will be performed by Alexandra Sostmann, the festival’s award-winning pianist and artistic director, alongside Kammersymphonie Berlin. Sostmann and Bruns have enjoyed a longstanding artistic collaboration, encompassing numerous concert projects, which provides a particularly strong foundation for their interpretation of this programme.

The result is a fascinating dialogue between original composition and new creation, between Baroque forms and contemporary musical expression. Bach’s piano concerto provides the historical point of departure, while Reinhard Febel’s new Concertino for Piano and String Orchestra makes explicit reference to it in its world premiere. Alexandre Tansman’s Triptyque for String Orchestra and Henryk Górecki’s Three Pieces in Old Style extend this musical dialogue, offering fresh perspectives on Bach’s enduring influence through elegance, rhythmic sophistication, and a rich variety of textures.

Johann Sebastian Bach (1685–1750)
Concerto for Piano and String Orchestra No. 7 in G minor, BWV 1058

Reinhard Febel (*1952)
Concertino for Piano and String Orchestra (World Premiere)

Interval

Alexandre Tansman (1897–1986)
Triptyque for String Orchestra

Henryk Górecki (1933–2010)
Three Pieces in Old Style for String Orchestra