Are Johann Sebastian Bach and Hanns Eisler contrasting composers?
At the invitation of TivoliVredenburg, baritone Thomas Oliemans and Holland Baroque meet. The focus is on “Ich habe genung” by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) and songs by Hanns Eisler (1898-1962).
Hanns Eisler: WWI soldier, apprentice to Arnold Schönberg, traveler from Paris to London, who sought refuge in the United States. Together with Arnold Schönberg, Thomas Mann, Kurt Weill and Bertolt Brecht, Eisler was one of the most famous emigrants in Los Angeles. Cut off from his roots, in search of the meaning of existence, he set the words of Bertolt Brecht to music in an inimitable way. In his Hollywood songs there is a longing for a better world through the displaced,
“As a young composer I asked myself: Who am I making music for? Well, that gave me great difficulties that have not stopped to this day. Because that’s what my friends and enemies say: Who is this Hanns Eisler making music for?”
According to Thomas Oliemans, the theme in “Ich habe Genung” is “being reflected back to yourself” as well as “How should you live? How do you find meaning in your life? “and” When will you have Genug? ”
‘Ich freue mich auf meinen Tod,
Ach, hätt er sich schon eingefunden.
Da entkomm ich aller Not,
Die mich noch auf der Welt gebunden.’
Johann Sebastian Bach and Hanns Eisler. Paradisiacal happiness seems for both composers to lie on the other side, where we are not.
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