Commission to Lukas Langlotz

In their programme Unapparent, the Basler Madrigalisten and the ARTE Quartet explore the connection between space, sound and identity. The focus is on the world premiere of Lukas Langlotz’s composition Unapparent.

The starting point for the project is Emilio Cavalieri’s (1550–1602) Rappresentatione di Anima, et di Corpo (1600, Rome), one of the earliest works of musical drama in European music history. This work cannot be classified as either opera or oratorio and explores the relationship between the soul (Anima) and the body (Corpo) through allegorical figures. Anima and Corpo discuss the pros and cons of their influence and consult with other allegorical figures such as Intellect and Pleasure. A small choir reacts and responds to the various scenes with appropriate madrigals.

Lukas Langlotz was invited to explore Cavalieri’s classic and create a new composition. In his search for suitable texts on the interplay between body and soul, Langlotz came across the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa (1888–1935), who did not see himself as a consistent personality, but rather as a collection of different identities, which he called ‘heteronyms’. He addresses the problem of identity and questions the concept of the self and the person as an expression of the soul. This makes him a restless seeker who takes God seriously and is not satisfied with traditional concepts. Nothing could express this more beautifully than his poem Abyss, set to music by Langlotz, in which the poet perceives a blurring of the inner and outer worlds, the security of experience shatters and a profound experience of God opens up. Pessoa’s poems are complemented by Rainer Maria Rilke’s poem Weisse Seelen.

In addition, excerpts from the cycle Zwischenräume (Interstices) for four saxophones, also by Lukas Langlotz, will be performed. This work was premiered in 2020 and has been reworked for the Unapparent project, allowing the composer to create a new interpretation of the score. A spatial concept is being developed for the concert evening, which requires excellent acoustics and multiple performance areas. The acoustic sources will shift throughout the concert, and Cavalieri’s music will merge with the contemporary texts and sounds.

The Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation is making the commission to Lukas Langlotz possible.

Further information:
basler-madrigalisten.ch

Date

September 19, 2025
Kulturkirche Pauslus, Basel