Just when you think history cannot be rewritten any more than it already has been, meet the Vienna orchestra that has taken the name of a composer’s widow.
Yes, we know Alma claimed she, too, was a composer. But the songs she had published are distinctive for their lack of originality and her own main purpose in life, stated in her memoirs, was ‘to be a muse to famous men’.
So now she has an orchestra.
They say:
The Alma Mahler Philharmonic is a chamber orchestra with a fine, virtuoso string ensemble, double woodwind instruments (two flutes, two oboes, two clarinets, and two bassoons), two horns, two trumpets, a harp, timpani, and percussion. We appreciate the special qualities of a chamber orchestra, which demands both collaborative playing in a chamber music style and the solo presence of each individual.
Alma Mahler-Werfel, composer, supporter of numerous artists, a woman between Alexander Zemlinsky, Gustav Mahler, Walter Gropius, Oskar Kokoschka, Franz Werfel, also a figure with dark sides and contradictions who mercilessly confronts us with our Austrian history, organizer of numerous salons that contributed to the lively exchange between the art forms of painting, literature, music and architecture, a person who gives us more questions than answers.
The Alma Mahler Philharmonic embraces the idea of connecting different art forms artistically with crossover projects of various art forms and musical styles. It supports creative artists and addresses the great human questions of friendship, life, time, suffering, joy, hope, etc. We associate these ideas with the word ‘Philharmonic’ as ‘friend of harmony, love of music,’ which ultimately can bring about the bond between us as human beings.
Dear old Alma.
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