Ist Klang der Sinn? Contemporary works for cello solo Alexandre Foster & Heinz Holliger

• Jürg Wyttenbach (1935 - 2021): Ist Klang der Sinn?:
• 1Wyttenbach: Ist Klang der Sinn?: I. Ist Klang der Sinn?01:23
• Sándor Veress (1907 - 1992): Sonata per Violoncello solo:
• 2Veress: Sonata per Violoncello solo: I. Dialogo Allegro moderato07:08
• 3Veress: Sonata per Violoncello solo: II. Monologo. Larghetto05:10
• 4Veress: Sonata per Violoncello solo: III. Epilogo. Allegro sconfinato02:58
• György Kurtág (b. 1926): Signs, Games and Messages:
• 5Kurtág: Signs, Games and Messages: Az hit01:54
• 6Kurtág: Signs, Games and Messages: Jelek III (Op. 5b)02:25
• Roland Moser (b. 1943): ...wie ein Walzer auf Glas…
• 7Moser: ....wie ein Walzer auf Glas...05:37
• Jürg Wyttenbach: Ist Klang der Sinn?:
• 8Wyttenbach: Ist Klang der Sinn?: II. Seiltänzerin01:25
• Heinz Holliger (b. 1939): Alèh Stavi für Violoncello solo:
• 9Holliger: Alèh Stavi für Violoncello solo04:48
• Jürg Wyttenbach: Ist Klang der Sinn?:
• 10Wyttenbach: Ist Klang der Sinn?: III. Webschiffchen Zeit01:22
• György Ligeti: Sonata per Violoncello solo:
• 11Ligeti: Sonata per Violoncello solo: I. Dialogo. Adagio rubato, cantabile04:24
• 12Ligeti: Sonata per Violoncello solo: II. Capriccio. Presto con slancio04:37
• Jürg Wyttenbach: Ist Klang der Sinn?:
• 13Wyttenbach: Ist Klang der Sinn?: V. Nicht bei Trost01:33
• György Kurtág: Signs, Games and Messages:
• 14Kurtág: Signs, Games and Messages: Népdalféle00:46
• Jürg Wyttenbach: Ist Klang der Sinn?:
• 15Wyttenbach: Ist Klang der Sinn?: VI. Schöner Tag00:51
• Thomas Demenga (b. 1954): Efeu for cello solo:
• 16Demenga: Efeu for cello solo09:47
• Jürg Wyttenbach: Ist Klang der Sinn?:
• 17Wyttenbach: Ist Klang der Sinn?: VII. Alte Weise00:56
• György Kurtág: Signs, Games and Messages:
• 18Kurtág: Signs, Games and Messages: Schatten01:19
• Total Runtime58:23

Info for Ist Klang der Sinn? Contemporary works for cello solo

Works by contemporary composers for solo cello are presented by Alexandre Foster on his debut album for Prospero Classical. Based on the cycle "Is Sound the Meaning?" by Swiss composer Jürg Wyttenbach, the Canadian-Swiss cellist highlights the many cross-connections in contemporary cello music that result from the pursuit of the "perfect sound," the unity of form, content and expression. Once this unity is achieved, it must manifest itself in the individual tone of the cello; that instrument which, in the opinion of many music connoisseurs, comes closest to the human voice.

"Is sound the meaning?" asks the Bernese pastor and writer Kurt Marti (1921-2017). Is it possible to set this question to music? Jürg Wyttenbach finds an amazing solution for this in his late work Gedichte von Kurt Marti für recitierenden Cellisten: He lets the poems speak and composes "a cello accompaniment" for them. With the question "Is sound the sense?", which one would like to answer immediately in the affirmative, only on "sound" a sound is heard, a pizzicato, "the sense" remains without sound. Wyttenbach's answer to Marti's question is thus marked by skepticism, for he foregrounds the sense of the word so strongly that it remains open whether the sound is really sense. Like a refrain, six of Kurt Marti's poems divide this album. Wyttenbach dedicated them to six cellist friends from Bern. They will be recited by none other than the "doyen" of the Swiss music scene, Heinz Holliger.

Alexandre Foster, cello

Alexandre Foster
The Canadian cellist Alexandre Foster is known for his unique approach to music-making and his high versatility of playing. Over the years, he has performed as a modern cellist as well as a baroque cellist with leading artists of both disciplines in some of the most prestigious halls in Europe (Casa da Música, KKL, Herkulesaal, a.o.).

A devoted chamber musician, he has been sharing the stage with musician such as Anton Kernjak, Silvia Simionescu, Maurice Steger, Sini Simonen, Christine Busch, Els Biesemans, Krystian Bezuidenhout, among others.

He is also a founding member of the Calvino Trio, with whom he has already given concerts all over the world. The Calvino Trio won the first prize "Norbert Schenkel" at the Jeunesse Musicale Competition 2015 in Switzerland and the first prize "Orpheus" at the Swiss Chamber Music Competition 2016.

Furthermore, Alexandre Foster is violoncello solo of the baroque ensemble "Les Passions de l'Ame" (Bern) and since 2019 a member of the Basel String Quartet.

His discography includes the first recording of Beethoven's piano quartets on period instruments (Dynamik) and the complete recording of Biber's Harmonia Artificioso-Ariosa (Deutsche Harmonia Mundi), which received worldwide critical acclaim. In 2010 he performed the world premiere of Hermann Keller's Sonata, which was recorded by Radio SWR 2.

His latest recording of music for solo cello (Veress, Wyttenbach, Holliger, Moser, Ligeti, Kurtag, Demenga), with the collaboration of Heinz Holliger, will be released by Prospero in early 2023.

His teachers include Thomas Demenga, Conradin Brotbek, Anton Kernjak, Rainer Schmidt and Ferenc Rados. Alexandre Foster's fascination with historically informed performance practice led him to the Schola Cantorum Basiliensis in Basel, where he graduated in 2014 with a Master of Arts in Early Music with Christophe Coin (Baroque cello).

Alexandre Foster taught for several years at the Hochschule der Künste Bern and at the Staatliche Hochschule für Musik und Darstellende Kunst Stuttgart. Since 2017 he has been a cello teacher at the Konservatorium Bern. He is also regularly invited to teach master classes throughout Europe.

This album contains no booklet.