Sommerkonzert Per-Tutti-Orchester

The worst work of all time, a mysterious manuscript and the Renaissance brought to life: at its summer concerts, the Per-Tutti-Orchester tells stories of blind spots in European music history

You read that correctly: under the direction of conductor Nikolaus Reinke, the Per-Tutti-Orchester is performing the worst work of classical orchestral music of all time at this year’s summer concerts – at least according to its composer, Anton Bruckner. He never published his so-called “Null” Symphony in D minor himself. Although he wrote it as early as 1869, it was not premiered until around 1924, on the occasion of Bruckner’s hundredth birthday (which he did not live to see). Since then, it has attracted increasing interest.
Bruckner was highly sensitive to criticism, including that of the Vienna Court Opera’s music director, to whom he gave the manuscript of his new symphony for review. When the latter said that he could not find the theme in the first movement, Bruckner scribbled a large zero on the symphony, called it “unfinished” and put it away in a drawer. Even unpublished, however, it remained highly significant as a foundation for his later work.

The story behind the manuscript of Giachino Rossini’s Bassoon Concerto is equally mysterious: it was not discovered in an Italian library until the 1990s, although it was written as early as around 1840. Bassoonist Annette Winker will perform the solo part. Alongside her work as a soloist in chamber music, classical music and contemporary music, she performs with numerous ensembles in Freiburg and Offenburg, initiates and leads many bassoon-related projects, and teaches bassoon and chamber music.
This melodically and technically demanding concerto was presumably written for one of Rossini’s bassoon students and is also known as the “examination concerto”. Rossini’s operatic influence can still be heard particularly in the second movement, the Largo: here, the bassoon sounds a little like the voice of an opera singer.

Peter Warlock’s Capriol Suite consists of six dances and is based on a 1588 handbook of Renaissance dances. It offers an entertaining introduction to various dance styles from that period. We open the ball in a festive mood in the first movement; in the second, things become Italian and ceremonious. With its playful hopping, the third movement evokes the atmosphere of a French court festival. We are then swept along by the fast group dance in the fourth movement. The fifth movement continues in a romantic, luxuriant vein before the sixth concludes with a so-called sword dance – can you hear the clashing of swords in the lively rhythm?

The Per-Tutti-Orchester looks forward to welcoming you to its summer concerts!
Admission is free. Donations towards covering expenses are welcome. Seating is
unreserved.

Steinhalle Emmendingen