Boosey & Hawkes

Magnus Lindberg: Rattle to premiere Seht die Sonne

(July 2007)

Simon Rattle takes the helm for the premiere of Magnus Lindberg’s new orchestral work, Seht die Sonne, this summer.

Commissioned by the Berliner Philharmoniker in association with the San Francisco Symphony, the score receives its first performance in Berlin on 25 August and then Rattle tours it with the orchestra to Carnegie Hall in New York on 13 November. The Toronto Symphony gives the Canadian premiere conducted by Jukka-Pekka Saraste on 7 February 2008 and the San Francisco Symphony under Sakari Oramo gives the first West Coast performance on 19 June 2008.

The new 25-minute work is programmed at its premiere with Mahler’s Symphony No.9, and Lindberg’s scoring matches that of the Viennese master with its emphasis on a large woodwind section, two harps and rich string sonorities. The title of the work makes another Viennese connection, being the opening text for the final sunrise chorus of Schoenberg's epic cantata Gurrelieder.

Cast in a continuous movement, the form of Lindberg's score falls into three sections, each characteristically working through a series of chaconne-like cycles. Motivic material is developed and then proliferates vertically and the central section ends with a concerto grosso focus on families of clarinets and cellos taking the foreground.

Lindberg’s Violin Concerto for Lisa Batiashvili continues to enjoy success internationally. Following its Lincoln Center premiere last summer and its first European performances by the Swedish Chamber Orchestra last October, it can be heard in the coming months at Tivoli in Copenhagen (26 July), the Barbican in London (27 July) and the Helsinki Festival (30 August). Further performances are already planned in Zürich, Pamplona, Stockholm, Bergen and Paris, and a recording is scheduled for autumn release by Sony Classical.

> Further information on Work: Seht die Sonne

Photo: Hanya Chlala/ArenaPAL

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