Leibniz on music:
Music is governed by Arithmetic, and when one is cognisant of some fundamental experiments with harmonies and dissonances one finds that all her other principles, too, are governed by numbers.
Music is the veiled arithmetical practice of the spirit (who knows not, that it is counting). […] In music we only count up to five […] but if we were gifted with rather more subtlety we could also include that of the prime number seven. And I do maintain, that this actually exists. But there would be hardly anyone who could utilise the intervals from the next prime numbers, viz., eleven and thirteen.”
Hannover, 17. April 1712
Letter to Christian Goldbach of 17 April 1712,
Opera omnia Volume III, Dutens, Geneva
»Wenn Gott rechnet, und seinen Gedanken ausführt, entsteht die Welt.«
»If God expects, and carries out his thoughts, the world is created.«
Die philosophischen Schriften von Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz, Hrsg. Carl Immanuel Gerhardt, Berlin 1875-90
Call for entries
Prize money
Jury
Competition for composers of any age
in the following categories:
1. Orchestra
(2222 – 2221 – timp, 2 percussion, harp, strings)
duration 10-15 minutes
Submission deadline: 21. June 2016
2. Ensemble of traditional Chinese
and Western instruments
(Pipa (PDF), Zheng (PDF), Sheng (PDF), Erhu (PDF), fl, cl, pi, perc (List),
acc, vl, vcl, kb): Trio to tutti, at least one Chinese instrument
maximum duration 12 minutes
Submission deadline: 01. March 2016
3. Solo Instrument
Zheng, Pipa, Clarinet, Cello or Accordion
maximum duration 12 minutes
Submission deadline: 01. March 2016
4. Radiophonic Composition/soundart
Stereophonic and possibly 5.1, for broadcast on hr2-kultur (Hessischer Rundfunk – Radio Frankfurt, public service radio) and at public performances
duration 20–40 minutes
Submission deadline: 01. March 2016
All submitted pieces should be based on Leibniz’s writings on the relationship between harmony and dissonance, arithmetic and music.
Works must be submitted anonymously (identified only by a number corresponding to that on an envelope containing the name, address, telephone number and email address, along with a cv and photograph of the composer) and in eight copies.
Submissions address for China:
Prof. Guoping JIA, Central Conservatory of Music,
43, Baojia Street, Xicheng District, 100031 Beijing, P. R. C.
Organiser, and submissions address for the rest of the world:
Musik für heute e. V. · Alte Grammophonfabrik
Edwin-Oppler-Weg 5 · 30167 Hannover · Deutschland
Telephone: +49 (0)511 161 1983 · Telefax: +49 (0)511 161 4250
info [@] dasneueensemble.de
The jury may at their discretion distribute the prize money differently depending on the distribution of submissions; their decision is binding and not subject to legal recourse.
Prizewinners must be present at the first performance of their works, and are obliged to supply all necessary material for the performance in the event of their work being selected no more than ten days after being notified of selection. By accepting the prize money the artist consents to his/her radiophonic soundart piece being broadcast by hr2-kultur (Hessischer Rundfunk – Radio Frankfurt) in any area and for an unlimited period; the association also retains the right to play the work during its public events without being liable to pay a composer’s fee (performances will be, of course, registered at the respective right societies, e.g. GEMA).
1. Prize Orchestra 5.000 Euro
2. Prize Orchestra 4.000 Euro
3. Prize Orchestra 3.000 Euro
1. Prize Ensemble 5.000 Euro
2. Prize Ensemble 3.000 Euro
3. Prize Ensemble 1.500 Euro
1. Prize Solo 3.000 Euro
2. Prize Solo 2.000 Euro
3. Prize Solo 1.000 Euro
1. Prize Soundart 1.500 Euro
2. Prize Soundart 1.000 Euro
3. Prize Soundart 500 Euro
Artistic Board /Members of the Jury:
Prof. Johannes Schöllhorn
Hochschule für Musik und Tanz Köln
Prof. Dr. Oliver Schneller
Eastman School of Music, Rochester
Prof. Jia Guoping
Zentrales Konservatorium Beijing
Prof. Guo Wenjing
Zentrales Konservatorium Beijing
Prof. Dr. Martin Kaltenecker
Université Paris Diderot
Prof. José M. Sánchez-Verdú
Conservatorio Superior de Música de Aragón (Saragossa)
Robert-Schumann-Musikhochschule Düsseldorf
Stefan Fricke
Redaktion Neue Musik/Klangkunst (hr2-kultur)
Matthias Ilkenhans
NDR Radiophilharmonie Hannover
Artistic director:
Stephan Meier
Contributions
Commisions
Webtool
1 March 2016 there had been 111 responses from all over the world to the international competition for composers, ‘Leibniz’s Harmonies’.
Entries in the first three categories reached the jury from Armenia, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Germany, England, France, Greece, Iran, Japan, Korea, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Russia, Switzerland, Turkey, the USA and Uzbekistan.
The first prizewinners’ concerts will be given in Hannover, the city where Leibniz did much of his work – in the Herrenhausen Gardens, at his last resting place the Neustädter Court and City Church, and at the NDR state broadcasting house, followed by performances in Beijing and his birthplace, Leipzig. The prizewinning composers and the jury will be present.
Prizewinners
Compositions for orchestra
1. Prize
Timo Ruttkamp (*1980): Mitternachtssonnenwindspieluhr
2. Prize
Dong Lingyi (*1995): Resonance
3. Prize ex aequo
Alessio Elia (*1979): Labyrinthum continui
3. Prize ex aequo
Zhao Ye (*1986): Irreducible Sketch
Compositions for Ensemble of traditional Chinese and
Western instruments:
1. Prize sponsored by Bahlsen GmbH & Co. KG
HUI Tak-Cheung (*1983): The Mist not Mist
2. Prize
FUNG Dic-lun (*1988): Rivière sans Retour (January 2016)
3. Prize sponsored by members of Musik für heute e. V.
WANG Ruiqi (*1987): A House without Windows (2016)
Special prize of the German Federal Foreign Office for young
chinese composers:
ZHANG Qi (*1988): Lead to Somewhere Far Away
Recommendation for performance:
Jung-Eun Park (*1986): Clash of Time
Compositons for Solo Instrument:
1. Prize sponsored by Annette und Gerd Schwandner – Foundation
XIE Xin (*1982): Unnatural Nature (February 2016) for clarinet solo
2. Prize
XU Zhengtong (*1993): Written in water for pipa solo
3. Prize
Franco Venturini (*1977): Kìnesis for violoncello solo
Special prize of the German Federal Foreign Office for young
chinese composers:
WEI Cong (*1988): Die Reise – von 0 bis 1 (February 2016) for violoncello solo
Recommendation for performance:
Christoph Theiler (*1959): The Bridge for violoncello solo (2015)
Radiophonic Compositions/Soundart:
1. Prize ex aequo
Johannes S. Sistermanns (*1955): 887
1. Prize ex aequo
Silvia Simons: Poème d'espace
1. Prize ex aequo
WEN Bihe (*1991): Ancient Reunion
Recommendation for performance:
Nathalia Grotenhuis (*1984): FLOW
Dates and Venues of the Prizewinner Concerts
The award presentation in the categories II-IV was taking place in 30th June 2016 in the Orangerie Herrenhausen, Hanover.
Friday · 09 December 2016
07.00 pm · Main broadcasting hall at NDR Landesfunkhaus
Prizewinners concert in the orchestra category
NDR Radiophilharmonie orchestra, leader Jonathan Stockhammer
Dates and Venues of further Prizewinner Concerts: »das neueensemble
The performers are:
NDR Radiophilharmonie, Hannover »Website
Ensemble Con Tempo Beijing
Das Neue Ensemble, Hannover »Website
Frédéric Durieux (*1959)
Longue Distance (2016) for erhu and clarinet
In Omaggio a Gilles Deleuze
« C’est un pli extrêmement sinueux, un zigzag, une liaison primitive non
localisable. »
« Nous découvrons de nouvelles manières de plier comme de nouvelles en-
veloppes, mais nous restons leibniziens parce qu’il s’agit toujours de plier,
déplier, replier »
Le Pli – Leibniz et le Baroque
Editions de Minuit ©1988
Monday · 14 November 2016
05.00 pm · Neustädter Hof- und Stadtkirche Hannover
Festive ceremony of the State of Lower Saxony, the City of Hannover and the Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Society to mark the tercentenary of Leibniz’s death.
Performers:
Udo Grimm · Clarinet (Das Neue Ensemble)
Guowei Yan · Erhu (Ensemble ConTempo Beijing)
Due to the non-uniformity of the development cycles of content and web technology, this part of the project is no longer required.
Contact
Musik für heute e. V.
Alte Grammophonfabrik
Edwin-Oppler-Weg 5
30167 Hannover · Germany
Telephone: +49 (0)511 161 1983
Telefax: +49 (0)511 161 4250
info [@] dasneueensemble.de
Partner
Sponsors
Within the framework of Musik 21 NIedersachsen, supported by the Ministry for Sciences and Culture of Lower Saxony; the Cultural Office of its Capital Hannover supports Musik 21 NGNM e.V. and Das Neue Ensemble institutionally.
Donor 1. Prize Ensemble:
Bahlsen GmbH & Co. KG
Donor 1. Prize Solo:
