HK Gruber, recitative

György Ligeti: 2 Preludes & Interlude
Kurt Schwitters: Ursonate
Hanns Eisler: Ballade von den Säckeschmeissern

Ligeti’s Le Grand Macabre affords a view of surrealistic Breughelland with an overture evocative of a traffic jam: 12 claxons of different sizes blare away with a closely-defined absence of synchronism. Kurt Schwitters (1887–1948) is remembered as a leading figure in Dadaistic art whose inspiration also billowed out into music. Ursonate, to be heard in an abridged version, is one of the cornerstones of “sound poetry”. Semantics are important in a work that impresses itself on the mind from the very first line: “Fümms bö wö tee zee Uu pögiff, kwii Ee.” 

The festival’s opening fanfare will ring out in Porvoo’s Town Hall Square at 12 noon on July 1. No entrance fee.