The Merlin Ensemble Vienna joins the Chichester Chamber Concerts series
They will perform in the Assembly Room in the Chichester Council House in North Street on Thursday, November 8 at 7.30pm (tickets from the CFT).
Artistic director Martin Walch said: “In 1991 we were asked to play Schubert’s Octett at the Schubertiade Festival in Feldkirch. The promotor asked us to find a short and good-sounding name for the ensemble. So we chose Merlin Ensemble, later extended to Merlin Ensemble Vienna. Then we started a concert series for the Austrian Radio (ORF).
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Hide Ad“I wanted to have a group of musicians with the same musical language. Since I was already a member of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe, I asked my friends and colleagues to join in. We now do around 30-40 concerts per year in Europe, USA and South America.
“It is competitive, but in chamber music it is always a question of the spirit in our artistic view, and therefore we hope that quality keeps chamber music alive. We play in various instrumental combinations depending on the project we are doing.
"The players for many years remain nearly the same in each project, but also different combinations depending on the repertoire. Therefore we hope each project is developing through the years. Our pianist Till A Koerber plays a very strong role in the ensemble. He is not only a wonderful pianist but also a composer and does sublime arrangements for the Merlin Ensemble
“We perform music from Marin Marais, Vivaldi’s Four Seasons, Mozart’s rarely-performed Lodronische Nachtmusiken, Schubert‘s Piano Trios and the Octet and the Septet of Beethoven up to works such as Schoenberg’s Transfigured Night and of course contemporary music.
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Hide Ad"Our repertoire has grown and includes up to 200 works of music. It also includes many music-dramatic projects in the German language For the Ensemble it is the second time in England after the wonderful Budleigh Festival this summer.
"UK has been for many years an important place for me. It is the home of the Chamber Orchestra of Europe which is the spirit of our artistic thinking, implanted by Claudio Abbado, Nikolaus Harnoncourt, Pavo Berglund, Andras Schiff and many others.
"We need the UK in Europe!”
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