A project of the Hans and Gertrud Zender Foundation in cooperation with the Institute for Contemporary Music IzM of the HfMDK

Thinking and Listening – Listening and Thinking. A Tribute to Hans Zender with Concerts and Panels

Frankfurt University of Music and Performing Arts

"Dawn over the Moskva" is also the name given to the orchestral prelude to Modest Mussorgsky's opera Khovanshchina . Will it be another gloomy day, or will the skies clear up over the world? Music Director Vladimir Jurowski begins the new concert season of the Music Academy with enchantingly beautiful music from times of turmoil – music full of longing and desire, evoking memories of better days and hope for happier ones. Yves Savary, principal cellist of the Bavarian State Orchestra, performs Dmitri Shostakovich's Second Cello Concerto, which, according to his biography Krzysztof Meyer, is "perhaps the best of all his instrumental concertos," in which one finds "all the characteristics of Shostakovich's symphonic style": "the broad vocal quality, the expansive formal scope, the vitality and movement, as well as the humor and grotesque." Hans Zender, the subtle yet far-sighted composer, virtually invented a new genre in his late work: the "composed interpretation." Using his own compositional means, he quotes, overwrites, counterpoints, and transcends Robert Schumann's Fantasy for Piano Solo, supplemented by a Prelude and two Interludes, into a genuine orchestral work through which Schumann's original—here labeled "Ruins," "Triumphal Arch," and "Starry Night"—repeatedly shines through and blossoms: a magical sonic experience that transcends time and time again.

1st Academy Concert: Vladimir Jurowski

Max-Joseph-Platz

„As a stranger I arrived here“. Yes. But who is „I“? A lonesome wanderer about 200 years ago, who makes his way through a winter landscape after the dashing of his hopes in unrequited love? Franz Schubert’s „Winterreise“ is based upon poems by Wilhelm Müller and was composed in 1827 in a time following the years after Austrian State Chancellor Metternich’s conservative restorationist policy in 1815. A sense of collective resignation is very subtly expressed: as a private romantic drama. With his “compositorial interpretation” in 1993, Hans Zender attempted to make the force of the original composition perceptible again to a contemporary audience. In 2020, the Dutch video artist Aernout Mik takes it up by adding a further dimension. In his production, he focuses on the dissolution of the individual between the virtual and the real world which for Mik represents modern man’s “Winterreise”.

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Schuberts "Winterreise“

The Staatstheater Stuttgart

In his Carnaval, a work for piano solo, Robert Schumann depicts various characters such as Pierrot and Harlequin as well as his fellow composers, such as Schubert, Chopin and Paganini. Maurice Ravel transcribed the rich colour palette of this imaginative piano work for the orchestra. The German composer Hans Zender also drew on Schumann’s work for inspiration. His famous Fantasie opus 17 served as a starting point for Zender’s Schumann-Fantasie, in which he combines the 19th and 20th centuries into one majestic orchestral work. In his Mysteries of the Macabre, György Ligeti pays an absurdist homage to his own career, replete with dark humour and exuberant cynicism, with a starring role for soprano Katrien Baerts. A unique experience and a treat for your eyes and ears!

Carnival and mystery

Queen Elisabeth Hall

Have you always wanted to know more about the structure of a symphonic work? There’s only one way to learn, by experiencing it up close. The Antwerp Symphony Orchestra introduces you to the stunning music of Zenders Schumann Fantasy. (in Dutch)

Spotlight: Schumann Fantasy

Join us for an unforgettable evening of music as Sir Simon Rattle leads the BRSO Academy in a performance of Hans Zender's "Schuberts Winterreise." This concert, set to take place on Monday, December 18, 2023, at 8:00 pm in the majestic Herkulessaal of the Munich Residence, promises to be a highlight of the musical season.

Under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle, the acclaimed conductor and patron of the BRSO’s renowned training center, the academy musicians will tackle Zender's demanding work, a composed interpretation that ventures beyond traditional orchestral arrangements to explore the depths of Schubert's masterpiece with modernist stylistic elements. This performance not only showcases the technical and interpretive prowess of the young musicians but also features the exceptional talent of tenor Allan Clayton, celebrated for his recent role in Brett Dean’s Hamlet at the Bayerische Staatsoper.

The evening will begin with an introduction at 6:45 pm, offering insights into the program and the unique collaboration between Sir Simon Rattle and the BRSO Academy. This event is a testament to Rattle's belief in the academy as the future of music and his commitment to challenging the students with works that demand the highest level of artistry.

Don't miss this opportunity to experience the future of classical music through the interpretation of one of its most revered works. Tickets are available online, and further details can be found on the BRSO website. Join us for a night of profound musical exploration that promises to leave a lasting impression.

Sir Simon Rattle & BRSO academy

Munich Residence

The idea that works of art are to be understood not only as original creations but also as part of an aesthetic dialogue unfolding across centuries lies at the heart of Michael Reudenbach’s orchestral work fast dasselbe [“almost the same”] – musical figures with ambiguous identities. Sand like gold-leaf in smithereens is the title of Clara Iannotta’s new concerto for violin and orchestra. Written for the violinist Carolin Widmann, the work allows the composer and the soloist to jointly explore the violin in new ways. With 33 Veränderungen über 33 Veränderungen [“33 Variations on 33 Variations”], Hans Zender has created a classic based on a classic: a re-interpretation of Beethoven’s Diabelli Variations that is virtually unsurpassed in compositional ingenuity. Conducted by Franck Ollu, this performance will serve as a bridge to the upcoming Beethoven Year in 2027.

Hans Zender

Events

Upcoming events

Oct 30, 2026

Franck Ollu | Reudenbach · Iannotta · Zender · Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra

Past events

Jul 4, 2026

Thinking and Listening – Listening and Thinking. A Tribute to Hans Zender with Concerts and Panels · Ensemble Modern

Oct 31 - Nov 1, 2025

1st Academy Concert: Vladimir Jurowski · Bayerisches Staatsorchester

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