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        Commissioned by Bühnen und Orchester der Stadt Bielefeld. Supported by the Hanns Bisegger Foundation and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia within the scheme of Fonds Neues Musiktheater 2020-2022.

        Download the performance audio files here.
        Unavailable for performance.

        • 2(pic,afl).2(ca).2(ebcl,bcl,sx).2(dbl bsn)/4.2.3(bfbn).1/3perc/timp/hp/prepared pf:synth(Juno60 Synth or plugin for computer)/str(8.8.6.6.3)
        • 2(pic,afl).2(ca).2(ebcl,bcl,sx).2(dbl bsn)/4.2.3(bfbn).1/3perc/timp/hp/prepared pf:synth(Juno60 Synth or plugin for computer)/str(6.6.6.5.3)
        • SATB
        • Baritone, Tenor, Soprano
        • 2 hr 25 min

        Programme Note

        Berlin Alexanderplatz is a work commissioned by the Theater Bielefeld and was planned from the beginning as an interdisciplinary work combining opera, drama and dance.

        This was a great challenge and opportunity for us at the same time.

        Since we, as a team of composers, always move in the border areas of different musical styles and musical traditions - such as between electronic club music and contemporary chamber and orchestral music - and look for intersections and similarities in apparent opposites, we were able to bring together and gather all our experience from our previous works and projects in theater, dance, music theater and radio drama in this piece.

        A central element of our compositional technique is that of mimesis and adaptation, which we use as a tool not to juxtapose different times, genres - even worlds, but to summarize them in our own tonal language. In this way we pay tribute to the Berlin of the 1920s, in which the piece is located, and at the same time transfer the (musical) themes to today's expressive worlds.

        The orchestral instruments mimic electronic synthesizers and delay effects, and speech is broken down into its component parts, from opera singing to naturalistic drama texts.

        In this way we wanted to depict the noises and sounds in Döblin's language and descriptions - his polyphony of a big city in its most diverse facets.


        Cast

        FRANZ BIEBERKOPF - Baritone
        REINHOLD - Tenor
        MIEZE - Soprano
        ERZÄHLER - Actor

         

        Choir SATB:

         

        CHOR DER HÄFTLINGE
        DIE STADT SINGT
        DIE SOLDATEN
        DIE TOTEN

        Speaking Choir:

        DIE STADT SPRICHT
        DIE FRAUEN
        PUMPS BANDE
        SOLDATEN
        DER WALD
        DIE BEHAUSUNG
        DIE STURMGEWALTIGEN 

        Other Singing Roles:

        MINNA - Soprano
        ALTER MANN - Bass
        SCHNEIDERIN 1 - Soprano
        SCHNEIDERIN 2 - Soprano
        SCHNEIDERIN 3 - Alto
        SCHNEIDERIN 4 - Alto
        MIEZE DOUBLE 1 - Soprano
        MIEZE DOUBLE 2 – Soprano
        MIEZE DOUBLE 3 – Mezzo-soprano
        SPERLING 1 - Soprano
        SPERLING 2 - Alto
        SPERLING 3 - Tenor
        TOD 1 - Tenor
        TOD 2 - Baritone
        TOD 3 - Bass

        Other Speaking Roles:

        WEIB
        2 JUDEN
        PASSANT 1 - 4
        KNEIPENBRUDER 1 - 3
        PUMS
        WILLI
        FRANZ DOUBLE
        MIETZE DOUBLE
        EIN JUNGE
        3 ENGEL
        IDA

         

        Media

        Paper Zurna
        Percussion Schneebesen mit Bogen
        Strings Overpressure and Distortion
        Strings Air Noise
        Woodwind Slap technique
        Brass slap technique
        Brass strong air noise
        Percussion Oberton - Triangel von Matthias Kaul

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