Harmony of the Spheres XVII

Dear Friends of the National Gallery of Slovenia and the Slovene Philharmonic String Chamber Orchestra,

We are inviting you again to the National Gallery’s Grand Hall to attend the second part of the programme entitled Ljubljana Concertos. We have put together a program with the Brandenburg Concertos in mind, composed by Johann S. Bach 300 years ago and creating a landmark in the history of this musical form. He discovered new acoustic dimensions of the orchestra by combining various solo instruments, redefined the structure of a concerto and included harpsichord as a solo instrument for the first time. This is the kind of challenge our contemporary composers faced accepting our invitation to produce their Ljubljana Concertos.

We have invited outstanding native and foreign composers Ulrich Kreppein (Germany), Márton Illés (Hungary) and Vito Žuraj, who set to music the poems of Slovenian poet Aleš Šteger for soprano and strings. Motifs from Ljubljana will inspire students of the Academy of Music to produce miniature Ljubljana Concertinos.

However, we shall perform several other pieces connected with Bach and his Brandenburg Concertos. You will hear how Bach inspired Brasilian composer Villa-Lobos to dedicate a series of compositions Bachianas Brasileiras to the master. The final, ninth one, was written for string orchestra. American composer Samuel Barber conceived his Capricorn Concerto in the form of concerto grosso with identical selection of soloists as Bach in the Brandenburg Concerto No 2.

We shall touch the works of Antonio Corelli, Antonio Vivaldi and Georg Philip Telemann, who significantly influenced Bach's creation and the Brandenburg Concertos in particular. The soloists of this season will be Reinhold Friedrich and Franc Kosem (trumpet), Nika Gorič (soprano), Maruša Brezavšček and Elisabeth Wirth (recorder).

The commission of new compositions is financed by Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation, while the chief patron of the Harmony of the Spheres is Inotherm again.

Lectures of this season will address some capital monuments of Ljubljana. We have asked Dr Ferdinand Šerbelj to talk about the treasures of the cathedral of Ljubljana, Dr Damjan Prelovšek for his interpretation of the question authorship of the Ursuline church, our young colleague Michel Mohor will speak about Ljubljana in the paintings of Slovenian impressionists, Dr Janka Istenič of the National Museum of Slovenia will present the significance of and the memorial to the Citizen of Emona, and director of the National Gallery Dr Barbara Jaki will reveal the wealth of stuccowork in the St Francis Xavier's chapel at St James’ church.

Welcome!

Klemen Hvala Art Director of SFSCO
Dr Barbara Jaki Director of NG

Subscription price for the 2017–2018 season: 75 €
Single ticket: 19 €

Subscription price for Friends of the National Gallery of Slovenia: 50 €
Single ticket: 15 EUR

Subscription or single tickets available at the front desk of the National Gallery of Slovenia, Prešernova 24, Ljubljana, 10 am–6pm, Thursdays through 8pm, or one hour before the event; closed Mondays.

Dates of events: