The Donaueschinger Musiktage is an annual music festival, providing a platform for contemporary composers in the eponymous south German town. In 1996 col legno published a 12-CD set with highlights of the (then) 75 years history of the event, complete with an illustrated 125-page booklet. 15 hours of exciting modernist compositions from Stravinsky to Lachenmann. The first of these festivals was held in 1921 but there were interruptions in the Nazi years.
75 Jahre Donaueschinger Musiktage (1921-1996) - this interesting and amazing Box Set offers to meet with the most celebrated masters and composers in the history of music and get acquainted with their creativity.
The Donaueschinger Musiktage is a festival for new music that takes place every October in the small town of Donaueschingen in south-western Germany. Founded in 1921, it is one of the oldest festivals for contemporary music in the world, and among the best-known and most prestigious. Donaueschinger Musiktage 2015 presents the German premiere of Georg Friedrich Haas's "Oktett", a work commissioned by Trombone Unit Hannover The world premiere of Johannes Boris Borowski's "Sérac" is a work commissioned by SWR; played bySinfonieorchester Baden-Baden und Freiburg, conducted by Peter Eötvös.
The Donaueschingen Festival (Donaueschinger Musiktage) is a festival for new music that takes place in Donaueschingen in south-western Germany every October. This prestigious festival was founded in 1921 and is one of the oldest festivals for contemporary music in the world. NEOS presents the highlights of the 2016 festival in high resolution and surround technique. All works on the two SACDs are live recordings of the world premieres recorded between 14 and 16 October 2016, performed by artists like the British soprano Juliet Fraser, the trombonist Mike Svoboda, renowned ensembles like the Arditti Quartet, Klangforum Wien, ensemble recherche and the SWR Symphonieorchester.
For some time now, I have been saddened by the seeming disappearance of the "true" musical avant-garde. Yes, there have been some promising new releases from young composers eager to experiment; Rebecca Saunders, Jason Eckardt, and some of Matthias Pintscher's work come to mind, though it's difficult to tell whether these efforts will be sustained. Luciano Berio is dead.
The music of Shakespeare's England - ballad tunes, country dances and elegant consorts - seems at first to be quintessentially English. Yet many of these tunes, as popular dances or in the high-art variations of division music, were inspired by Celtic and Spanish styles. In variations, from 17th-century manuscripts and in improvised divisions, 'gypsy' ballads are metamorphosed into exquisite consort music.