On the occasion of the 100th birthday of the composer György Ligeti, his masterpiece Lux Aeterna (1966) is the starting point of the program. The 16-part vocal composition is considered a turning point in vocal music: floating sound surfaces, the dissolution of rhythm in favor of liberated space. All of this creates a magical pull that was revolutionary at the time and immediately persuaded Stanley Kubrick to use the piece in 2001. A Space Odyssey. The Ukrainian vocal ensemble Alter Ratio presents Lux Aeterna in a version that replaces four of the 16 voices with electronics – also as a symbol of and in memory of the missing voices of the Ukrainian artists and people killed in the war.

This is followed by new works for vocal ensemble and electronics by the Ukrainian and Bulgarian composers Peter Kerkelov, Alla Zagaykevych, Maxim Kolomiiets and Maxim Shalygin, which take up Ligeti’s music of eternity both musically and in terms of content and show the diverse facets of today’s Ukrainian music.

With the vocal ensemble for contemporary music Alter Ratio, an outstanding ensemble from Ukraine is once again a guest at Klangwerkstatt Berlin. In light of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, it is important to us to give Ukrainian contemporary music a space and to make Ukrainian art and culture visible. Alter Ratio was founded in 2010 and is originally based in Kyiv. The members of the vocal ensemble currently live partly in Ukraine, partly scattered throughout Europe – including in Berlin, such as director Olga Prykhodko.

Funded by: Goethe Institute | GVL Ukraine Aid – Society for the Exploitation of Ancillary Copyrights mbH | Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation | Ukrainian Institute | Ukrainian Institute in Germany

Program

György Ligeti Lux Aeterna (1966)

Peter Kerkelov phos-phorus (2023) for vocal ensemble and electronics

Maxim Kolomiiets Disappearing voices (2023) for vocal ensemble and electronics on a text by Viktor Rekalo

Maxim Shalygin Sub Rosa (2023) for vocal ensemble and electronics on a text of Robert Frost

Alla Zagaykevych Psalms of Falling (2023) for vocal ensemble and electronics on a text by Iya Kywa