IRRLICHTER

Will o’ the wisps lead Faust and Mephisto into the dream world of Walpurgisnacht. They tempt
and trick them, leading them along false paths and forgotten trails. In this evening, the ensemble
“klangwerk am bauhaus” also embarks on a journey in musical form, containing reflective, dark episodes and unexpected turns of events. They will perform two world premieres by Weimar
composers along with their own reflections. It opens with “Das letzte Gesicht – In Erinnerung an die Befreiung des Konzentrationslagers Buchenwald” (The Last Face – in memory of the liberation of the Buchenwald concentration camp) by Peter Helmut Lang. To mark the 80th anniversary of the liberation, a work has been written to remind us of the horrors of the Nazi period – while at the same time articulating a gesture of hope. The title refers to a wooden sculpture that prisoner Bruno Apitz carved from the so-called “Goethe oak” in 1944. Another historical trail has been followed by the scholar of German literature W. Daniel Wilson. He reports an incident that took place in Ilmenau in 1803, in which a mysterious manuscript appeared containing incantations for
spells and subsequently became part of the duke’s library. Goethe knew of this case – and was confronted with what the general public associated with Faust (and Mephisto). Faust and Mephisto are also present in Marcus Aydintan’s composition “Irrlichter”. This captures their zigzag motion – “We usually only walk in zigzags” – in musical form. Distorted echoes of Liszt’s “Feux follets” and his “Mephisto- Polka” appear in occasional flashes as part of this game of deception.

Ticket reservation in advance only via e-mail: tickets@kunstfest-weimar.de