Presentation

The creation of the Ensemble K has arisen from the shared experiences of a number of musicians, for the most part teachers at the Conservatoire à rayonnement régional du Grand Nancy, and in particular from the implication of the three founder-members (Elodie Haas, violin; Thomas Zimmermann, clarinet; Axel Pierrard, piano) in a project on «degenerate art ».

The K stands for the Opera Kroll created in 1927, a home to avant-garde music and German opera, and which provided a venue for the performance of new compositions, classical compositions as well as for compositions for all tastes until its forced closure in 1931 under the rise of national socialism.

The K stands, equally, for Bartok, composer of « Contrasts » for violin, clarinet and piano, the first piece studied together by the three performers. It suggests not only Stravinsky, Krenek and Khatchatourian, who composed for the same musical formation, but also Kurt Weil and even Kafka, Kundera, Kandinsky and Klee to name but a few. And why not, more generally Musik, Kunst and Kultur ?!

The Ensemble K first saw the light of day on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the exhibition on degenerate art held in Düsseldorf in 1938. A concert had already been given, in quartet-formation (violin, clarinet, cello and piano) in November 2007. The programme, preceded by a lecture by Amaury du Closel, included Paul Hindemith’s Quartet as well as the Quartet for the End of Time by Olivier Messiaen the centenary of whose birth is celebrated in 2008.

To mark the beginning of their adventure, the Ensemble K will perform in 2008 a world-creation « Sabe si alguna vez » based on « Cante y Poesias », for soprano, clarinet and piano by Jocelyn Sgard. It will then play in its original formation and in the presence of the composer, the Trio sopra « « Et Sola Facta » by Betsy Jolas. This will be performed by the ensemble as part of the 25th Festival Musique Action, thus marking its commitment to the music of our time.