Music as a bridge
January 15, 2010
Polyphonia started out as a classical wind section quintet, but a decade later, has expanded, added other instruments, and widened its scope. Their many concerts worldwide are a revelation not only for audiences, but also for fellow musicians.
Often, the Polyphonia musicians will dig out intriguing works that are lesser known to the general public, such as Louis Spohr's "Grand Nonetto" in F Major, opus 31, written in 1813.
The group played the work at a concert in Algiers, the capital city of Algeria, in November 2009 along with an adaptation of a Mozart piano quintet. Performing in the broadcast hall of Algerian National Radio, Polyphonia - this subgroup of musicians from the Deutsches Symphonie-Orchester, DSO - presented classical European music to northern African ears in cooperation with Deutsche Welle, the German Foreign Ministry and Germany's Goethe Institute. The occasion for the tour was an historic one: celebrating the 20th anniversary of fall of the Berlin Wall.
Music as bridge between cultures
Part of Polyphonia's charisma lies in its ability to promote intercultural dialogue. Building bridges of musical and cultural understanding, the ensemble members give training to music students in Germany and abroad.
During its North African tour, which also included a concert in Morocco, Polyphonia held a two-day workshop with students of the Algerian Music Academy. The goal was to connect works of chamber music in the Western European tradition to Spanish and Arab music traditions anchored in the region for hundreds of years. It was a daunting task for the Berlin musicians, considering that instruments played in European classical music look and sound different from Arab instruments. Also, musicians in that part of the world do not rely as much on sheet music.
"It is a totally different kind of music," said oboist Martin Koegel. "It's not hard to play, but because of the many repetitions, it has a trance-like quality." He also pointed out the language barriers - with Arabic sounding quite foreign to German ears.
All of Polyphonia's musicians are members of the DSO, whose current chief conductor and artistic director is Ingo Metzmacher.
Listen to Polyphonia playing at the Algiers concert by clicking on the audio links below.
Author: Dagmar Breitenbach/als
Editor: Rick Fulker