'Apocalypse of the Air' concert by Rudersdal Chamber Players featuring world premiere of 'Vayu-Vata' by composer Raymond Deane
Gammel Holte Kirke
Rudersdal Chamber Players:
Christine Pryn: violin
Isabelle Bania: viola
John Ehde: cello
Manuel Esperilla: piano
Poetry, music and visual arts unite on the 13 January at 19.30 (CET) at Gammel Holte Kirke in Copenhagen, where Rudersdal Chamber Players invite you inside for "Cool Concerts" - the ensemble's winter season concert series. The concert, entitled "The Apocalypse of the Air", is part of a multi-year project on the Four Elements, where Rudersdal Chamber Players, in collaboration with changing artists, historians and scientists, explore both the physical and symbolic significance of fire, air, earth and water.
For this evening the focus is on the element of air and its symbolism in connection with death: the soul that leaves the dead body as an "airy" being, and - a more tangible example - the aerial bombing attacks during World War II.
The poet Ditte Steensballe will read from her own texts inspired by eyewitness accounts of the Luftwaffe's brutal attacks, and the artist group Stablede Kanter (Stacked Edges) have created an art video which in various ways illustrates the element air and suggests the presence of invisible "airy" creatures.
The music for this event is the grippingly beautiful Fantasy Sonata for viola and piano by Paul Hindemith who was on the Nazi list of "degenerate" composers, and Romanian George Enescu's Piano Quartet No. 2 in D minor, written during the years 1943-44 when Romania suffered its worst attacks of World War II.
The acclaimed Irish composer Raymond Deane was commissioned by the Rudersdal Chamber Players, with support from the Arts Council/An Comhairle Ealaín, to compose a piece for this occasion. Vayu-Vata draws inspiration from (among other things) Paul Celan's "Death Fugue", which revolves around death and the air;
...then you rise as smoke into the air
then you've a grave in the clouds where you don't lie too close...
Tickets
Tickets available from Ticketmaster here.