Fin de siècle

‘Without him, a radio choir in Germany dedicated to new music like the SWR Vokalensemble would have been inconceivable,’ wrote the SWR Vokalensemble on the occasion of Clytus Gottwald’s death in 2023. Gottwald beautifully arranged late romantic music by Mahler, Wolf, Strauss, and Schreker for choir. His arrangement of Mahler’s famous Adagietto from the Fifth Symphony enjoys international acclaim. A concert that transports you to the heart of late Romanticism. In just three years, Hugo Wolf composed around 200 Lieder that capture the essence of the fin de siècle zeitgeist. Mahler’s music too, masterfully echoes the dramatic clashes in art and society that defined his era. Such as Um Mitternacht (At Midnight): four introspective, wandering minor verses followed by a radiant major key as the text proclaims with newfound trust: ‘Hab ich die Macht in Deine Hand gegeben: Herr über Tod und Leben’ (‘I commended my strength into your hands: Lord over death and life’).