What are the mysterious microtones? Why is microtonal music so different from the one we arre used to as listeners of European classical music? The answers to these questions will be sought together with Sinfonietta Cracovia on March 16, 2019 at 7.00 p.m., during the next edition of the cycle "Music without applause" at the Museum of Contemporary Art MOCAK.
On March 16, Jurek Dybała's ensemble will perform under the baton of the outstanding conductor Ernst Kovacic, with whom they inaugurated this innovative series four years ago. We will listen to microtonal compositions, based on musical intervals smaller than a semitone. In modern European music, microtones appeared only thanks to the modernists and avant-garde artists. It is worth mentioning that it was the forgotten, unequal temperament that was characteristic of the musical culture of ancient India, China, Arab countries and Greece. It is not without reason that the concert will start with the precursory experimental works of 20th-century Greek composers: bravura and dynamic 10 sketches for string orchestra by Nikos Skalkottas and dramatic Syrmos for 18 string instruments, in which you can feel the mathematical precision and spatial imagination of the composer and architect Iannis Xenakis.
The raw space of the Museum of Contemporary Art MOCAK also enables to reach for the latest music, which will be represented by the economical and moving antichesis for 14 strings by the Austrian composer Beata Furrer. The evening will end with a Polish premiere of L'ideale lucente e le pagine rubate for strings by the Italian composer Salvatore Sciarrino, one of the most renowned and most frequently awarded contemporaries.
According to the rules of the cycle "Music without applause", listeners will be asked to refrain from applause both during the concert and after its end. So far, this unusual postulate has been successfully implemented – will it work out this time?
Media patronage: Polish Music Information Centre POLMIC.
Information on tickets at: www.sinfonietta.pl