A GROUP OF MUSICIANS IN BERLIN JOIN TOGETHER
TO PLAY MUSIC FROM THEIR WINDOWS!
Source: Marina Vaz, "O Estado de S. Paulo", 19/05/2020
English translation by G. Conte
Redaction: K. Dimopoulou
English translation by G. Conte
Redaction: K. Dimopoulou
Every Sunday, artists from different nationalities play “Ode to Joy”, by L. Van Beethoven.
A Finnish pianist. An American singer. A Japanese double bass player. A flutist, a violist and two violinists from Germany. Besides being professional musicians, who play in different groups, they have in common the fact of living in the same set of buildings in the Charlottenburg district, in Berlin.
Due to the pandemic, they had to stay home and many of their concerts and performances had to be cancelled, so they decided to get together to play the “Ode to Joy”, by Ludwig Van Beethoven. Always on Sundays, the artists appear on their own windows and on their balconies for a concert: First, there are several solos and duos in the courtyard of the building, with varied repertoire. Then, it’s time to present Beethoven’s "Ode to joy", for whoever passes on the street. Sometimes, a cyclist slows down and stops to hear them. A woman, from the other side of the street, tries out some sounds, trying to accompany the soprano. And a neighbour- who is always a bit shy- opens up just a bit of her window to see them and listens to the music.
A Finnish pianist. An American singer. A Japanese double bass player. A flutist, a violist and two violinists from Germany. Besides being professional musicians, who play in different groups, they have in common the fact of living in the same set of buildings in the Charlottenburg district, in Berlin.
Due to the pandemic, they had to stay home and many of their concerts and performances had to be cancelled, so they decided to get together to play the “Ode to Joy”, by Ludwig Van Beethoven. Always on Sundays, the artists appear on their own windows and on their balconies for a concert: First, there are several solos and duos in the courtyard of the building, with varied repertoire. Then, it’s time to present Beethoven’s "Ode to joy", for whoever passes on the street. Sometimes, a cyclist slows down and stops to hear them. A woman, from the other side of the street, tries out some sounds, trying to accompany the soprano. And a neighbour- who is always a bit shy- opens up just a bit of her window to see them and listens to the music.
Jochen Hoffmann
The idea of uniting the musicians came from the flutist Jochen Hoffmann, who works at the Deutsche Oper Berlin and lives on the third floor. The repertoire choice was opportune: the emblematic "Ode to Joy", part of Beethoven's 9th Symphony, had already being remembered in tributes to the health care workers in other windows and balconies of the country. “I always joked about having to do a project together. So, when Jochen invited me to do something, I instantly accepted”, says the German violist Julia Lindner, who played in orchestras like Komische Oper Berlin and Gewandhausorchester Leipzig. “I feel very fulfilled, to see how much joy it brings to the neighbours and at the same time, also to me. This is also a form of personal healing in this sad, hard moment.”
The choice of "Ode to joy" brought, nevertheless, a challenge. It needed an arrangement that contemplated the instruments played by the neighbours. It was then that Julia and her husband, the Brazilian journalist Guilherme Comte, decided to invite the composer Leonardo Martinelli, who lives in São Paulo, to help. “The musicians combination was a bit uncommon”, observes Martinelli, who, at the end of March, was grieving the loss of two important references in the classical music scene, both victims of the Covid-19, conductors Naomi Munakata and Martinho Lutero Galati. “I said I would do the arrangement, as a way to process the grief of the loss of these two artists, and also honour their artistic cause. I completed it in one day only, and I was taken by very opposite feelings”, remembers the composer, who, in December last year, premiered the opera "O Peru de Natal" at Theatro São Pedro, a work based on the short story of the same name by Mário de Andrade. For Martinelli, more spontaneous and informal artistic presentations like these carry other meanings. “These are powerful actions, because they establish a very special kind of connection between artist and their public. It is not about a simple hobby, something to do over the weekends. It is an exercise of struggle and life for all the parts involved, where the musicians or the people listening to them are looking, not only for the music, but for a different sense of their existence, that we do not encounter in concerts that we used to go before the pandemic.”
The choice of "Ode to joy" brought, nevertheless, a challenge. It needed an arrangement that contemplated the instruments played by the neighbours. It was then that Julia and her husband, the Brazilian journalist Guilherme Comte, decided to invite the composer Leonardo Martinelli, who lives in São Paulo, to help. “The musicians combination was a bit uncommon”, observes Martinelli, who, at the end of March, was grieving the loss of two important references in the classical music scene, both victims of the Covid-19, conductors Naomi Munakata and Martinho Lutero Galati. “I said I would do the arrangement, as a way to process the grief of the loss of these two artists, and also honour their artistic cause. I completed it in one day only, and I was taken by very opposite feelings”, remembers the composer, who, in December last year, premiered the opera "O Peru de Natal" at Theatro São Pedro, a work based on the short story of the same name by Mário de Andrade. For Martinelli, more spontaneous and informal artistic presentations like these carry other meanings. “These are powerful actions, because they establish a very special kind of connection between artist and their public. It is not about a simple hobby, something to do over the weekends. It is an exercise of struggle and life for all the parts involved, where the musicians or the people listening to them are looking, not only for the music, but for a different sense of their existence, that we do not encounter in concerts that we used to go before the pandemic.”
Leonardo Martinelli
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Sarah Fuhs
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In the first presentations in the building, one of the hard parts was the acoustic: it was not easy for the musicians to listen to each other. While for example, American soprano Sarah Fuhs sung on the ground floor, the musicians that accompanied her would be three or four floors above her. Besides that, the group does not use any kind of amplification – except when Finnish pianist Sami Väänänen, husband of Sarah, plays the piano, since the instrument is far away from the windows (in the middle of the living room). To enhance the connection between the musicians, Väänänen ended up assuming the role of the conductor, standing in the middle of the courtyard.
With all the social isolation going on, Sarah believes that people have even more will to remain connected with the others:
“I believe that artists can certainly help to fulfill this need, now more than ever. One earns less money, but the emotional reward was probably never so intense and gratifying. Shakespeare already knew, and now we are all experimenting it: the whole world is a stage, including our windowsills".
The neighbours' orchestra already has a name : "Homecastle Symphony Berlin" and just got their own YouTube channel.
Press the button below to visit the channel
With all the social isolation going on, Sarah believes that people have even more will to remain connected with the others:
“I believe that artists can certainly help to fulfill this need, now more than ever. One earns less money, but the emotional reward was probably never so intense and gratifying. Shakespeare already knew, and now we are all experimenting it: the whole world is a stage, including our windowsills".
The neighbours' orchestra already has a name : "Homecastle Symphony Berlin" and just got their own YouTube channel.
Press the button below to visit the channel
