Hannes Pohlit

Humanité

The Reformation is not only a great story of humanism, but also one of the origins of European music history, ecclesiastical chant. The solo violin 'recites' the underlying plainchants; comparable to a singing voice, its part is composed with the hymns in mind. The organ is assigned to describe the world in complex, colourful dimensions, but also the enemy who opposes the soul with crude force.

Tradition is what remains of great, often passionate emotions and visionary ideas; sometimes, after centuries, only an outer shell is preserved. In this sense, at the end of the violin concerto, the 'original' hymn - -Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme' (-Wake, Awake, for Night is Flying”) - reappears in the organ pedal keyboard in its tonally transmitted form while the violin part rises into a dramatic climax, accompanied by the ominous call of distant fanfares and storms, until it is suppressed by the thunder of the organ Plenum and the ringing bells, bringing its chant to end.