4. Philharmonisches Konzert: Am Abgrund

In the organizer's words:

Benjamin Britten Sinfonia da Requiem
Dmitri Shostakovich Symphony No. 4 in C minor op. 43

The two symphonies on the program reflect a world on the brink in a deeply impressive way. Benjamin Britten's Sinfonia da Requiem was composed in 1940, shortly after the beginning of the Second World War. The symphony is a work of confession. In it, the convinced pacifist Britten, then just 27 years old, takes a stand against the war as clearly "as possible". The reference to the Requiem, the service for the dead in the Catholic liturgy, is expressed in the headings of the three movements of the compact symphony, even without Britten adding a choir or solo voices. The piece describes an arc that leads from mourning and a dance of death protesting against the madness of war to enraptured tranquillity in the last movement "Requiem aeternam".

4th Philharmonic Concert: At the Abyss