World premiere of the latest trio of the Austrian composer on 10 October 2019.

Alexander Wagendristel doesn’t just write good music, his works also take a stand on current topics and events with pleasure and often vehemently. In “life was so easy”, his new trio for clarinet, cello and piano, it is explicitly about flight, expulsion and exile.

Wagendristel quotes Schönberg’s Piano Concerto op.42: “life was so easy”, “suddenly hatred broke out”, “a grave situation was created” and “but life goes on” are the movement headings in Schönberg’s own sketches for this concerto. The musical material of the concerto is also spun further; after all, even its basic series is clearly audible at one point towards the end of the trio.

However, Wagendristel is not only concerned with remembering the historical catastrophe that National Socialism meant for Europe, but above all with the reference to the present: at that time people like Schönberg had to emigrate from Europe in order to escape annihilation. Today people flee to Europe for the same reason. How do we deal with this and where do we stand today? Is history repeating itself?

In any case, we are very much looking forward to premiering this incredibly exciting and complex work on October 10 at the Mödlinger Schönberg-Haus. Also to be heard at this concert will be compositions by Erich Zeisl, Robert Starer, Ernst Toch and Joachim Stutschewsky.

Kommt und hört!