composition: Peer Baierlein
vocal ensemble: AuditivVokal
musical director / conductor: Olaf Katzer
Anne Stadler - S1
Katharina Salden - S2
Stefan Kunath - A
András Adamik - T
Cornelius Uhle - B
baroque ensemble: Ensemble Art´d Echo
musical director: Juliane Laake
Juliane Laake - viola da gamba basso
Irene Klein - viola da gamba basso
Thor-Harald Johnsen - theorbo
Mira Lange - harpsichord (doubles piano)
Sebastian Flaig - percussion
'Times and Ages' stands out through a likely unprecedented and deliberately eccentric instrumentation. This commissioned work was composed for an evening titled FOLIAS – a Musical Revue of Madness (orig.: 'FOLIAS – eine musikalische Wahnsinnsrevue'). What begins as light-hearted entertainment escalates into an unstoppable follia – a melodic-harmonic formula with roots as a dance form in Portugal. Between euphoria and hysteria, the boundaries between music, commentary, and reality begin to blur—until chaos takes over.
'Times and Ages' weaves together contemporary elements with the harmonic structure of the folia, stylistic features of the Baroque, Bach-inspired compositional techniques and overtone singing. Past and present merge in a powerful dialogue — a stark reminder that our world today still dances on the edge of a simmering volcano.
