2023 marks the 100th anniversary of the Bauhaus Week 1923, during which music was the main focus – an ideal occasion to draw attention to the relatively unexamined role of music at the Bauhaus. The bauhaus / music weekend from 22 to 24 September in the Meistersaal Berlin will explore the yet unknown contexts and relationships between the Bauhaus and music for the first time, as well as showcase a musical premiere.
The bauhaus / music weekend will present the initial findings of a research project which began in 2021 at the Bauhaus-Archiv in Berlin. The interdisciplinary team headed by the musicologist and project manager PD Dr Kai Hinrich Müller set out to systematically reconstruct the musical life at the historic Bauhaus in Weimar, Dessau and Berlin. The music weekend marks the start of an extended investigation into the musical life at the historic Bauhaus.
As Dr Annemarie Jaeggi, director of the Bauhaus-Archiv / Museum für Gestaltung explains: “Our current research shows that the Bauhaus and music belong together. The musical life at the historic Bauhaus sites was multifaceted, though still very little is known about it. We are delighted to intensively explore this subject with our research partners and present our initial findings. The bauhaus / music weekend will make the musical world of the historic Bauhaus visible and audible to the public.”
The focus of the bauhaus / music weekend, organised by artistic directors Michal Friedländer and Karl- Heinz Steffens, will be on works which are directly related to the Bauhaus. The programme includes Igor Stravinsky’s The Soldier’s Tale (Histoire du Soldat), Paul Hindemith’s The Life of Mary (Das Marienleben) and Work for Piano (Klavierwerk) by Ferrucio Busoni, as well as music by members of the Bauhaus, such as Stefan Wolpe, or influential musical figures who visited the Bauhaus like Ruth Crawford Seeger, Kurt Weill and Paul Arma – all of whom produced highly modern and avant-gardist works. Audience members will also have the chance to hear the jazz repertoire of the legendary Bauhaus Orchestra which existed from 1923 to 1933. The bauhaus / music weekend will feature performances by such renowned musicians as Guy Braunstein (violin), Tehila Nini Goldstein (soprano) and Matan Porat (piano). The concerts will be accompanied by various events highlighting the music at the Bauhaus and discussions with experts and musicians.
PROGRAMM
Friday, 22 September 2023:
Workshop Pierrot lunaire @ the temporary bauhaus-archiv Berlin
Free admission
Arnold Schönberg was one of the central musical figures at the Bauhaus. His music was performed in concerts and artistically reviewed, not least of all by his own students who studied at the Bauhaus. He himself had numerous ties to the institution, e.g. as a member of its “Circle of Friends”, and maintained close contacts with Wassily Kandinsky and other members of the Bauhaus. The organisers of the Bauhaus Week 1923 had planned to perform Schönberg’s Six Orchestral Songs Op. 8, which ultimately didn’t happen. However, prior to that in October 1922, his epochal melodrama Pierrot lunaire was staged in joint production with the Bauhaus. In this workshop, students from Berlin’s universities of music will rehearse the piece at the temporary bauhaus-archiv, and the audience is cordially invited to listen in!
Saturday, 23 September 2023:
Concerts and more @ Meistersaal on Potsdamer Platz
Day ticket: 15 euros
- Stefan Wolpe: Stage music to Molière’s “Le malade imaginaire”/ Paul Hindemith: Chamber Music Nr. 1
- Intermezzo in the Green Salon
- Igor Stravinsky: The Soldier’s Tale (Histoire du Soldat)
Sunday, 24 September 2023:
Concerts and more @ Meistersaal on Potsdamer Platz
Day ticket: 15 euros
- Ferrucio Busoni / Stefan Wolpe / Ruth Crawford Seeger / Paul Arma: Works for Piano
- Intermezzo in the Green Salon
- Paul Hindemith: The Life of Mary / Stefan Wolpe: Songs / Kurt Weill: Songs
- Closing set with Jazz of the Bauhaus Orchestra