SIGNALS FROM HEAVEN
Music from Giovanni Gabrieli combined with Spirituals like "nobody knows the trouble I've seen", inspired by Duke Ellington’s ‘Sacred Concerts
Signals from Heaven is not a brass experiment, nor is it one of those crossover projects that all too often cause more disappointment than enthusiasm. Rather, the choreography is a complex bridge-building exercise, a dialogue with music from the 16th to the 20th century. The decision to remain true to the original style is an extremely sensible one. This is not about “re-composing,” “re-interpretation,” or “re-writing,” as is so extremely fashionable at the moment, but simply about juxtaposing spiritual worlds. How does Claudio Monteverdi's (1567-1643) Toccata correspond with Gershwin's (1898-1937) “Summertime”? Where are the possible connections between Giovanni Gabrieli's (1557-1612) polyphonic “Sacrae Symphoniae” (1597) and the gospel song “Swing Low”? And what space is defined between Tōru Takemitsu's (1930-1996) CD title track “Signals from Heaven” (1987) and Duke Ellington's (1899-1974) “Come Sunday” from “Sacred Concerto No. 1” (1943/1965)?
They are all connected by spiritual, religious, and intellectual power; and the gaze upward, toward heaven. The earthly (human, natural) and the heavenly (divine) are expressed in titles and musicality, oscillating between the material and the immaterial, between seasons and times of day, quietly flowing streams of sound, the overcoming of earthly suffering; and the associated longing for heavenly paradise. Imagination and symbolic places are added in spirit.
LA RENAISSANCE DE JACQUES BREL
Jacques Brel’s Chansons combined with a variety of Old Renaissance Dances
This new programme will be published on Berlin Classics end of 2026.
