CulturePublicIn-person

Orpheus

Name: Orpheus
Start: 2026-10-24T20:00:00+02:00
End: 2026-10-24T23:59:00+02:00
Location: Humboldtstraße 2, 79098 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany

Humboldtstraße 2, 79098 Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany
Sat, October 24, 2026 (8:00 pm - 11:59 pm)

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Description

Probably because it is a common opinion that Rilke had a difficult to critical relationship with music, this chapter - in contrast to the visual arts (Rodin, Cézanne) - has been little noticed. We want to remedy this in our memorial evening on the 100th anniversary of his death. Even though his path to music was initially problematic, his work is one of the most musical of all, and the concept of music runs like a red thread through his poetry. The core of the evening is a selection of the Sonnets to Orpheus and the great poem. The Sonnets to Orpheus were written in 1922, parallel to the completion of the Duino Elegies and the long poem Orpheus. Eurydice. Hermes 1904. While the Sonnets are considered a major work of Rilke, the poem, which Joseph Brodsky called probably the greatest poem of the 20th century, remained relatively unknown. We will present compositions that do not explain his own difficult path to music, i.e., Gregorian chant, Bach, Beethoven, but works by composers of his time and environment who responded to his texts. We hope to expand and differentiate the reverberation space that these grand texts open up. And since Orpheus is mentioned, of course, a voice must not be missing: Rachel Harnisch, who started her meteoric career here, returns to Freiburg for this evening and sings songs by Alma Mahler, Alban Berg, and two songs from Hindemith's Marienleben. She is accompanied by Aziz Kortel, who will also play pieces by Scriabin, Fauré, and Ravel. Gerd Heinz, Recitation
Rachel Harnisch, Singing
Aziz Kortel, Piano

Highlights

Memorial evening on the 100th anniversary of Rainer Maria Rilke
With Rachel Harnisch and works by Alma Mahler, Alban Berg, and Hindemith
Combination of reading and musical compositions

General Information

The memorial evening for Rainer Maria Rilke takes place at the Freiburg Hof and explores his relationship with music. In addition to a reading of the Sonnets to Orpheus, musical works responding to Rilke's texts will be presented.