Pyotr Tchaikovsky’s production of The Tempest almost tosses you into the eye of that storm raging across the Mediterranean, the storm that shapes the Shakespearean play by the same name. You can feel it all — the ocean of many moods, the headiness of newly-minted love, the solemnity of Prospero’s final proclamation and the final goodbye — in the music of Bundesjugendorchester, the National Youth Orchestra of Germany, that was here last week as part of the Goethe-Institut’s Embrace Our Rivers project. Seventy-three of Germany’s finest young musicians took to stage to expand on this narrative, through achingly beautiful music that filled The Music Academy in Chennai.
While the focus of the orchestra is largely on classical music, “it is not about playing the best known, or most lovely music. We try to pick a topic every term, and sometimes get a slightly political programme,” says Sönke Lentz, Director of the National Youth Orchestra. “We create a frame and choose music that fits into this.”
This concert was themed around Weather and Forces of Nature, and mostly showcased compositions about, “the forces of Nature that move and inspire us,” says Lentz. The idea was partly triggered by the World Climate Summit in the orchestra’s hometown, Bonn in 2017, that highlighted the need for a dialogue on water.
And the music that was played — including pieces like Jon Leifs’ ‘Geysir’, “a piece that comes from deep feelings of Nature” and Robert Schumann’s ‘Rhenish’, whose notes captured “the life of the composer which was very connected to the river (Rhine)” — was all about expanding this dialogue.
“The young people are worried about the future of our earth. They want to make the world better. The theme is to show that you can achieve something as a musician as well,” he says.
Notes that matter
The National Youth Orchestra was founded in 1969, by the German Music Council. “A lot of musicians had immigrated or been killed during the Second World War, and there was a necessity to rebuild the cultural life of Germany back then,” says Lentz.
In 1964, the council established ‘Jugend musiziert’, an annual, nationwide music competition for children and young people. “After installing that, they thought it would be good not just to find talent but to support them in making music together.”
The musicians, who start out as young as 14 years old and stay on till around the age of 19, are selected through a rigorous process. An audition is conducted every year, and anyone can apply. Additionally, winners for the contest are automatically considered. “We end up listening to around 200 youngsters every year, from which we select around 40-50 to join,” smiles Lentz, adding that this constant churning of students ensures that it “stays interesting and lively”.
The orchestra, that makes regular national and international tours and has been conducted by stalwarts like Kurt Masur, Sir Simon Rattle, Kirill Petrenko and Sebastian Weigle, came under the patronage of the Berliner Philharmoniker in 2013. “They send their musicians to teach our youngsters and they invited us to perform in their hall.” Additionally, the orchestra has also been invited to perform in their digital concert hall, says Lentz. “This way, anyone in the world can listen to our music.”
