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A new music is born – Marc Neikrug’s Symphony No. 4 | NDR.de – culture – music

Status: 05/20/2022 4:14 p.m

A new piece of music was born in the Elbphilharmonie on Thursday. The NDR has commissioned a symphony from the American composer Marc Neikrug – now the world premiere has taken place.

by Stephen Storm

“The most important thing composers strive for is their own voice”, says Marc Neikrug. And he found his own voice. The American composer has been causing a stir with his works since the 1970s. His musical theater Through roses, which tells the story of a Jewish violinist who survived Auschwitz, has been performed more than 500 times.

The birth of a new symphony

Now his new symphony, his Fourth, has had its premiere in the Elbphilharmonie. A work commissioned by NDR, played by NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchestra conducted by Chief Conductor Alan Gilbert. Neikrug, who studied in Los Angeles and at the Detmold University of Music, knows his trade. He can create orchestral sounds like few composers can today. He writes for the instruments, not against them. Makes them produce sounds that are actionable. For the solo horn player Jens Plücker it is always an exciting situation when a work is played for the first time. After the premiere, the NDR musician explained: “I was very fascinated by the music, which sounded like a kaleidoscope, I enjoyed it.”

absolute music

In terms of form and structure, Neikrug’s Fourth is entirely in the tradition of the great symphonies of the 19th century. Here and there he uses the styles of the great composers such as Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler or Béla Bartók without copying them. In addition, he processes influences of jazz and South American music. Neikrug and his wife lived with the Pueblo Indians for more than 25 years and internalized their rituals and ceremonies.

Don’t overwhelm the audience

His Fourth Symphony is a large-scale, four-movement orchestral work with extended percussion. The music goes through several increases, which usually dissolve in well-being. Dissonances usually resolve in euphony. In addition to traditional sounds, you can discover a lot of new things here. A journey that rarely overwhelms the audience. Neikrug creates works that function in the context of concert programs not intended for audiences specifically interested in New Music.

A good imagination protects against surprises

For Marc Neikrug, the premiere of his works is always like the birth of a big baby: “I’m sitting alone in a house and have to imagine what 100 people sound like together. You have to have a good imagination and a firm belief. It’s a surprise when when it ultimately doesn’t sound the way you imagined it,” explains Neikrug in an interview with NDR Kultur.

There were no surprises for the 75-year-old at the premiere in the Elbphilharmonie, everything went as planned. After the last tones had faded away, there was great, long-lasting applause from the audience.

This topic in the program:

NDR Culture | Classic in the day | 02/20/2022 | 8:15 a.m



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