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Ein Brief
(2017-2019)Hugo von Hofmannsthal (G)
bar-string quartet-3(III=afl).2.corA.2.bcl.2.dbn-4.3.3.1-timp.perc:3tam-t/susp.cym/crot/BD-harp-strings
Abbreviations (PDF)
B&B
Opernhaus, Bonn
Reinhild Hoffmann, director
Conductor: Dirk Kaftan
Company: Holger Falk, baritone / Beethoven Orchester Bonn
A Letter for baritone, string quartet and orchestra is based on fragments from Hugo von Hofmannsthal’s text of the same title: In this powerful prose work, also known as “Chandos-Brief” (The Letter of Lord Chandos), Hofmannsthal gave artistic expression to his scepticism about language in 1902. Trojahn’s ‘Reflective Scena’, as the work is subtitled, represents the composer’s “answer” to Beethoven’s “Heiligenstadt Testament” – both texts reflect a life crisis that shakes creative work and at the same time is overcome by writing. Trojahn’s composition was commissioned by Bonn Opera and was premiered there in 2020, in a staged production together with Beethoven’s Christ on the Mount of Olives.