According to Henze, his concerto Musen Siziliens, which premiered in 1966 as part of the Berliner Festwochen, was intended to “be fun” – both for the audience and the performers. Johannes Brahms must have been thinking on similar lines when experimenting with multiple permutations of “Viennese” three-four time in his Liebeslieder waltzes for voices and four-hand piano. The RIAS Kammerchor Berlin will perform both works at the Musikfest Berlin together with the piano duo GrauSchumacher who in the words of the Süddeutsche Zeitung have “perfected four-hand piano-playing”, accompanied by musicians of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie conducted by Gregor Meyer. As an atmospheric opener, Henze’s otherworldly, mysterious Notturno sets the tone.

Hans Werner Henze (1926–2012)   
Notturno (1995)
for wind instruments, double bass and piano
Serenade for Klaus Rainer Schöll

Musen Siziliens (1966)
Concerto for mixed chorus, two pianos, wind instruments and timpani 
on fragments from the Eclogues of Vergil

Johannes Brahms (1833–1897) 
Liebeslieder (1868/69)
Waltzes for voices and piano four-hands op. 52

GrauSchumacher Piano Duo 
Ensemble of the Junge Deutsche Philharmonie

RIAS Kammerchor Berlin 
Gregor Meyer – conductor