The festival “for questions of time” returns for a fifth edition from 22 to 31 March across various venues in the German capital.
MaerzMusik, the 10-day festival using contemporary music to explore the intricacies of time, has revealed its programme for 2019.
The festival will be inaugurated with a grand-scale variation of Frederic Rzewski’s 1975 piano composition The People United Will Never Be Defeated, performed by Rzewski himself. On the opening night, Rzewski’s performance will be followed by a rendition of French-Romanian composer Horațiu Rădulescu’s Clepsydra, performed in its original form for the first time.
Other programme highlights include Tele-Visions, which will run from 24 to 31 March at the Underground Hall in silent green, formerly Berlin’s Wedding Crematorium. The project combines material from over 20 archives to tell a story of music written for the screen from the 50s to the 90s. Tele-Visions combines an eight-day film installation with film screenings, lectures and presentations.
On 24 March festival-goers will have the opportunity to attend a multimedia performance of Time, Time, Time, a new opera by experimental composer Jennifer Walshe with a libretto by philosopher Timothy Morton. Time, Time, Time, will explore differing notions of time through four characters whose lives lead them to experience different temporalities.
A screening of silent film Die Stadt ohne Juden (The City Without Jews) will take place on 25 March with a new score from Austrian Jewish composer Olga Neuwirth. Across three performances on 25, 26 and 27 March, the QuerKlang project is set to present world premieres of its experimental group compositions. The project, now in its 15th year, brings together one music teacher, university student and one established composer to interrogate new sounds, arrange them into compositions and present their work to the public.
The Long Now, a 30-hour event taking place in former power plant Kraftwerk, closes the festival from the 30 to 31 March. Encompassing concerts, performances, and sound and video installations, The Long Now will bring together different musical genres from across the musical avant-garde, including experimental electronic, ambient and noise. Visitors are welcome to drop in at any point throughout the event and, for those wishing to stay for its entire duration, beds will be provided.
For tickets and further information, head to the MaerzMusik official website.
