Young Composers and Gustav Mahler in Toblach/Dobbiaco

A project of the Gustav Mahler Research Centre (GMRC) in cooperation with Stefan Hakenberg and the Hans Werner Henze Foundation 

Introduction 

In August 2019 composer and Henze student Stefan Hakenberg, the director of the GMRC Federico Celestini, and the director of the Hans Werner Henze Foundation Michael Kerstan met at La Leprara, the house of Hans Werner Henze (1926-2012) near Rome. 

In our conversation we were inspired by the figure of the composer Henze in two ways; for one, because of his great love of Gustav Mahler's music and, two, because he had conceived composition workshops for young composers which he produced in Deutschlandsberg (Styria) in the 1980s.  Stefan Hakenberg took part in those workshops and Michael Kerstan has studied and written about them.

In this context we developed the idea of organizing a workshop for young composers in the spirit of Gustav Mahler and Hans Werner Henze to take place in Toblach/Dobbiaco.

Our foremost purpose is to add a further, contemporary dimension to the curation of the cultural remembrance of Gustav Mahler in Toblach/Dobbiaco.  One of the project's main objectives is to refer the cultural and music-historical perspectives surrounding Mahler to the bearing they have on young artists' composing today.  Another is our interest to facilitate communication between musicologists of various generations (senior scholars as well as doctoral students), young composers, and the musicians of both the Gustav Mahler Music Weeks, and the Grand Hotel Orchestra.  We are convinced that this will be to everyone's benefit.

Key Points of the Project 

For 2022 the project is planning a summer school week for participating musicologists, young composers and musicians of the Gustav Mahler Music Weeks, and the Grand Hotel Orchestra.

The musicological portion will take place as a conference with about ten international lecturers.  The corresponding concept will be presented separately.

The characteristic feature of the project is the involvement of young composers – who are particularly capable of creative reflection – in the modern reception of Mahler.

About seven composition students from conservatories, music academies, and music universities of the EUREGIO Tyrol / South Tyrol / Trentino and adjacent regions will participate in the project.

Guided by Stefan Hakenberg and mentored by their respective professors, the chosen students will compose new works developing a reference to Mahler.