Close-up: Metamorphosen

Metamorphoses

Shocked by the destruction of the Frankfurt Opera House, Richard Strauss wrote Metamorphosen in the last months of World War II: a lament for all that had been destroyed, a requiem for culture and civilization. It is a mesmerizing work for 23 strings, with the funeral march from Beethoven's 'Eroica' Symphony as its main motif. In the version for seven strings, the ingenious structure becomes even clearer.

Transfigured Night

Almost half a century earlier, one of the most beautiful and important works for string sextet was created: Arnold Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht by Arnold Schoenberg, who was born 150 years ago. The late Romantic work is based on a poem by Richard Dehmel about a woman who confesses to her lover that she is pregnant by another man. The music follows their conversation closely and carries the listener along on an intimate emotional journey from fear and guilt to pure happiness.

Germanist and Dutch scholar Rolf Somann sheds a nuanced light on the biography of Richard Strauss within the context of the interbellum and the Second World War. He also places Richard Dehmel's poem – the source of inspiration for Schoenberg's Verklärte Nacht – in its historical context and explains why it was considered both controversial and progressive at the time.

Close-up

In the chamber music series Close-up, musicians from the Concertgebouw Orchestra play self-composed programmes in the Small Hall. Each one is a special one-off concert that cannot be heard anywhere else. The way to experience the individual qualities of the orchestra musicians! The intimate concerts are organised by the Friends of the Concertgebouw and the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra.