Dirk Amrein

Dear Dirk Amrein

On behalf of Thailand Composition Festival 2009 organizer, I would like to thank you for your participation at the festival.   Your performance at the festival is really remarkably inspiring all of the participants especially new generation of composer.   I’m certain that all of the composers are very moved by just observing you in the rehearsal and the concert. 

It was wonderful to have you at the festival to exchange the idea of modern music and repertoire in the 21^st Century.  Your present at the festival is not only help to inspire the composers but also help to develop the music education in Southeast Asia as well.  It is great to show diversity in music for all of the composers and music lovers.  I hope that we will have a chance to invite you to come to the Thailand International Composition Festival again in the near future. 

Regards,

Narong Prangcharoen

Artistic Director of Thailand International Composition Festival

Dirk Amrein & Jürg Henneberger - Concert Review                       

Fazioli Piano Salon, Klavierhaus NYC - 9/8/2009

 On September 8, 2009, The Fazioli Salon in midtown Manhattan hosted German trombonist Dirk Amrein and Swiss pianist Jürg Henneberger in one of several rare duo appearances throughout the United States.  The program began with several selections from one of Schubert’s well-known song cycles, Die Winterreise, arranged for trombone and piano.  Their performance exhibited great sensitivity and attentiveness to the imagery intended by the original text, and despite the absence of a singer in the performance, the lyrical elegance of Schubert’s melodies was beautifully conveyed by Mr. Amrein on the tenor trombone. The next several pieces of the two-hour program were contemporary works by European composers Jürg Wyttenbach, Heinz Holliger, and Helena Winkelman to name a few.  After the intermission, each musician took the opportunity to grace the audience with a solo performance.

 The concert concluded with a world-premier performance of The Wild Hunt, a new work for alphorn, piano, and electronics.  The piece was written expressly for Mr. Amrein and Mr. Henneberger by New York City composer Merrill Clark, and it is almost as spectacular to watch as it is to hear.  The piece requires the alphorn player to stand atop a piano bench, while resting the bell of the alphorn directly on the harp inside the piano several feet away.  The reason for this peculiar setup, Mr. Clark explained, was to use the natural resonance of the piano to amplify the alphorn – a technique reminiscent of many of the Berio Sequenzas. 

Another unique element of the piece was the incorporation of electroacoustic elements, an area of composition pioneered by Mario Davidovsky in his Syncronisms, and later utilized by many other notable composers. 

 Most importantly, the piece went beyond its successful integration of extended techniques to tell a compelling story – something contemporary composers and performers don’t always do anymore.  The Wild Hunt, Mr. Clark explained, is based on a European myth about a group of ‘dark riders’ -- evil spirits that ride together through the air.  They are usually associated with a storm or evil event.  If one encounters this group one has two choices -- to join them on the hunt as a spirit, or to die shortly thereafter.  Mr. Clark likens this myth to the premise of the Stan Jones song Ghost Riders in the Sky.  Mr. Clark also drew on historical uses of the alphorn itself (such as the calming of cattle or the signaling of troops during wartime) as inspiration for the piece.

All in all, both Mr. Amrein and Mr. Henneberger gave outstanding and daring performances of contemporary music, proving that they are artists of the utmost musicality.  The audience, which consisted mostly of professional musicians and enthusiastic music lovers, gave Mr. Clark, Amrein, and Henneberger a much-deserved standing ovation at the end of the night.  Upon completing their American tour, Mr. Amrein and Mr. Henneberger will return to their homes in Basel, Switzerland where they perform regularly.

--
Gabriel Luce
www.lucemusic.com

 

Heard the trombone and piano duo Jurg Henneberger (piano, Switzerland) and Dirk Amrein (trombone, Germany) performed at USM’s balai persiban. It’s the most exciting concert I’ve ever heard at USM all these years. Perhaps because this was the only truly contemporary music concert and of a very high quality. I still couldn’t believe they played Wyttenbach:

Since Igor missed the concert I asked if he’d like to see them perform again at their hotel – hydro hotel – at miami beach, but this time they’re playing jazz. Clever Igor took his dinner first then fetched me to see the duo on Sat night. When Jurg and Dirk came on stage, we went over to introduce ourselves as kah hoe and kee yong’s friends …I thought we’re gonna get some John Coltrane or something but they played Gershwin, Rachmaninov and Schubert.Half way through, Jurg came round and sat with us, taking a break from the scorching heat emanating from the huge spotlights while Dirk plays solo. I suggested that perhaps they could replace the spotlights with the standing lamps around the lounge. He said maybe next time.

 After the performance, Igor and I went up to have a few words with the duo again with Igor leading the way. Mainly with Dirk since we don’t know the trombone as well as the piano. He was very friendly and thinks Schubert’s lieder transcribed for the trombone retains almost all of the quality of the vocal music except the words but that ‘who listens to the words anyway?’ I couldn’t agree more since I grew up listening to western vocal music like lieder and operas without understanding a single word sung. Perhaps that kind of listening makes one pay more attention to the music rather than be distracted by words and their meanings.   

 We hung around the lounge hoping to chat some more with the duo. We’re stuck with Jurg while the more talkative Dirk was chatting with some Siberian tourists at the next table. Jurg and I were more quiet, reserved people so much of the talking was left to Igor. Keeping the conversation alive was quite belaboring. Basically we tried to pull everything we know about Swiss and German culture out of our hat of tricks but eventually it went dry. Of course the main point that we’d like to get across is that we’re composers, young and aspiring ones. I mean, Jurg is the founder of an ensemble specializing in contemporary and avant garde music. We’d be committing a great sin against ourselves not to. I asked if his ensemble plays much of other composers or that they’re forced to play mostly Swiss composers. He says they play many composers including Stockhausen. I asked, they must have played lots of Stockhausen the year he died in 2007 then? He laughed and said, they do play Stockhausen. Later, Dirk came over and broke a little more ice but I was getting a bit sleepy plus I had to teach on Sunday so we said aufwiedersehen …