Music Traveling Seminar:

Part I: Ich bin ein Berliner: 4 days in Berlin

Our train departed at 6:53 am. We all met at the train station at 6:40, groggy and sleepy-eyed form the past weeks finals, papers, and spending time with our friends who would be back in the USA once we returned to Strasbourg. It was a little rough considering we had a relatively busy week, and the night before was our farewell dinner. The dinner was at a nice Alsatian restaurant in town, and we took pictures, drank some wine, and nostalgically reminisced about our semester together. Since the music program continues a bit longer than the rest of the programs, many of us tried to soak up one last night with our friends. I turned in relatively early (midnight or so) but some of us didn’t even go to bed, instead prowling the streets of Strasbourg and arriving at the bakery for a hot, fresh “pain au chocolate” immediately before heading to the train station.

We noticed early on that our friend and fellow musician Alex wasn’t present, we boarded the train, thinking that he would pop in just at the last second as usual, however it wasn’t the case. He had mistakenly gone to bed for a couple of hours and failed to wake up in time. Fortunately he was able to catch a train and still make it to Berlin in time for the concert that evening. This week the “Where is Alex?” question has been a running joke among us. We slept most of the way, and arrived in Berlin about 2:00. While exiting the train, Julia, a clarinetist found a painted metal goose under her suitcase, most likely a garden accessory. She immediately took to this object and after asking if it belonged to anyone on the train, she grabbed this rusted goose, covered in daisies, and named it gonzo. It has since been the tour flag, the message deliverer and our traveling seminar companion.

We took the u-bahn back to our hostel, the “Hotel Transit” which is really a place in transit. We encountered all kinds of characters, including a group of singing retirees, an older German lady who spoke five languages and now lives in Sudan, a group of deaf teenagers and families with little kids. After settling in and unpacking, grabbing a quick bite to eat, we changed and got back on the u-bahn headed towards the Berlin Philharmonic.

The concert hall was beautiful, and consisted of a small stage, with the audience surrounding it, creating an acoustically perfect 3D sound experience. As soon as they played their first chord, I could understand why they are considered one of the best orchestras in the world. They played with perfect precision and very musically. What most surprised me however is that I didn’t feel as if I were listening to an orchestra, but rather a large chamber ensemble. Each player seemed to be feeling and listening to every other musician, and almost anticipate and feel what the conductor was doing. Although he oboists were very bright sounding, they were musical and seemed to fit the feeling and timbre of the orchestra. We were seated behind the percussion section, and it was interesting to see the conductor’s movements and expressions. My favorite piece they played was the Wagner “Siegfried”, they really brought out the heart wrenching melodies and seemed to innately understand the Wagnerian suspensions, rather than over play them and bore the listener with his lack of cadences. After intermission they played a new piece “Requiem” by a modern composer named Zimmerman. It was over an hour long, and contained a very large orchestra, four choirs and electronic recordings. The beginning of the piece was mostly recordings of speeches with orchestral sounds popping up here and there. It then slowly rose in tension, adding more and more of the orchestra and choirs, as the speeches became constant, but almost inaudible. It was very dissonant, and almost disturbing. There was no constant melody, as the composer was going for more of an effect. Interestingly enough, this piece really seemed to appall and offend some people. Throughout the piece, people would sporadically get up and leave, and we estimate that about 30-50 people in total angrily stomped out. This piece was a bit “out there” but it didn’t occur to me why they would be so offended. However when I looked at my program, I realized that most of the speeches (which were in German) were a conglomeration of fascist leaders (including Hitler), the Beatles, songs from the 60’s, and other political speeches. The choral interludes were almost frightening, consisting of sudden very loud clusters having no apparent chordal relation to anything in the orchestra. The final movement was called “Dona Nobis Pacem” (bring us peace) and instead of a sweet, dolce peaceful melody, commonly used for this type of movement, it was instead a harsh loud demand. It seemed more like a cry from hell, a less than subtle warning of the consequences of war and fascism. For me, the piece was kind of frightening, but long and repetitive. It was enlightening to listen to, but not something I would seek out. Our theory professor, Dr. Waggoner is a composer and loved it, but he is fond of strange, modern compositions.