TO celebrate the 70th birthday of Beat Furrer, Klangforum Wien have created a wonderful collection called the Jubilaeumsbox which is a fascinating multiformat collection which celebrates both Furrer’s 70th and the ensemble’s 40th. 

Beat Furrer is both a composer and founder of the ensemble. How did they select the collection?
 
The ensemble and Furrer lead the choosing, says Kainrath. He asked Furrer which pieces “act like a synapse … which works guided you in a certain direction.” The aim was to provide a variety of works that really “reflect him as a composer. 18 works, 18 synapses of a creative life.”

Within the collection of the Jubilaeumsbox the two books are truly fascinating, offering insights into the life and work of the composer. Spaces Of Reflection lists over 2,000 books that Beat Furrer possesses, shining a light on the mixture of thinkers and ideas that have influenced the composer. Works includes a fascinating essay by Furrer himself, titled Opera — An Open Form.

“Opera reveals its reality to us, merging it with our own; it speaks of its pain, happiness, and fears, finding its resonance within ourselves, the listeners,” Furrer writes.

Peter described how in FAMA, not included here, Furrer wanted to create an all-embracing environment in which the music could exist and so you can “have a very deep experience of sound.” He described the “micro-managed process” which went into this particular project and how it managed to capture the “inner fire of a single sound and bring it directly to the audience.” 

This is characteristic of Furrer’s work, with pieces like Spur having a truly manic energy of microscopic musical gestures which unravel into an exquisite webwork. 

The sixth scene of his opera Begehren also demonstrates Furrer’s incredible sense of space in time. “He really knows the whole history, and spending time with him privately is listening to all forms of music,” says Kainrath. “The sixth scene of the opera where ‘she’ is trying to flee the infernal, the sound of the ancient voices becomes a truly shocking moment.”

Furrer and Klangforum Wien have evolved together in such a way that both make extreme demands of each other pushing art to a greater and greater extent. 

What of their upcoming concerts in London?

“For the Wigmore Hall concert — a debut for the ensemble — we are in this transformation process, a projection towards the future, showing the best of what we have from our Vienna ‘second modern period’, says Kainrath. “We go a little wider, including works by Eisler and Busoni, ‘A musical business card’, to present ourselves to the audience.” 

Conceiving themselves as “the Vienna Philharmonic of contemporary music,” they reach out to classical music audiences and those unfamiliar with classical music at all, using new music to invite them to discover a wealth of possibilities. This includes the flying exploration of a century of opera in Amopera, or their Tower Of Babel which includes music from composers from all the former Soviet Republics. 

The variety of the work is simply outstanding, and Kainrath’s view is that “we have the potential to enter a golden era of new music.” He emphasises that although “through digital channels we can reach more people, you can never substitute live nature or ritual of a concert. It is important we, as an ensemble, constantly think of what content, with substance, can we offer for what kind of audience.”

And his excitement is infectious. 

“How much would you give to sit for once next to Beethoven,” he adds, “to experience his fifth symphony with him. With the Klangforum Wien you have the chance to sit next to the equivalent of our time … We have to communicate this kind of extraordinary moment, when the composer is listening to their work. It is a historical moment.

“People are fearful, but I guarantee they will hear things they have never heard before.”

Klangform Wien play the Wigmore Hall on February 16 and 17. For tickets and more information see: wigmore-hall.org.uk