in vain

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Sunday, November 4th, 2012
8:00PM (Pre-concert talk 7:15PM) Live streaming opens at 7:45PM - http://finearts.uvic.ca/music/events/live/

Described as �an esoteric Romantic, dwelling on the majesty and terror of the sublime� (New Yorker), Austria�s Georg Friedrich Haas has emerged as one of the major European composers of his generation. His 2000 work, in vain, has become a masterpiece of the modern repertoire with performances worldwide. Composed in the wake of the rise of the right-wing Freedom Party in the 1999 Austrian elections, in vain conveys, in part, Haas� despair in the face of decaying hopes for social progress.

Unfolding over the course of 70 minutes, this work is a study of opposites � lightness against darkness, motion against stillness, pure intervals against microtonality. Closely allied with the French spectralist school, Haas is not afraid of theatrical gestures, opulent expanses of sound and the creation of landscapes on an almost Wagnerian scale. Following a virtuosic opening of rapid swirling patterns, the hall descends into darkness with stillness pervading the music. Gradually the horn and trombone emerge from the darkness with a cascading theme, reminiscent of Wagner�s Rheingold. Just as the listener feels that they are at the cusp of a new and sublime tonality, the work�s title becomes fully understood.

�This modern masterwork transforms the concert hall into a place of shuddering mystery, suggesting that the way of truth goes through the dark.� � Alex Ross, The New Yorker

Tickets available at the door as well as at the University box office - 250-721-8480