MISSION
Beyond the Atlantic is a hybrid music event hosted by the Goethe Institute Boston that brings together members of the Berlin Philharmonic and the Ecce Ensemble in talks, panels, presentations, and performances.
Together we endeavor to explore the state of concert music and the transatlantic dialogue in the 21st Century.
John Cage’s “Lecture on Nothing (Silence).” 1949. A notable presenter at the Darmstadt Ferienkurse in the 20th Century.
In recent decades, technological innovations, environmental collapse, and political upheaval have created both challenges and opportunities for creative artists, but the shifting landscapes of art, culture and economy have impacted the relationship between composers and audiences. In a contentious cultural environment, and lacking stable systems of patronage, concert music no longer holds a privileged place in society for mutual discovery and shared understanding of human aspiration.
Beyond the Atlantic brings together American and European performers and composers to consider the next chapter in our historic transatlantic relationship. How can it be reinvigorated to address the current social, political and environmental moment? And can classical music, in its abilities to express the most delicate and demanding communication between its performers and composers, ignite new ways of informing our political and cultural dialogue?
Henri Dutilleux after the Boston Symphony performance of “Shadow of Time” for Orchestra and Children’s Chorus. An example of great transatlantic collaborations of the 20th Century.
Through the 20th Century, a dialogue between Europe and the United States transformed the world of concert music. Many of the composers who resisted the rise of Soviet Russia, Nazi Germany and other autocratic European movements came to America to continue composing in a welcoming and democratic environment. After World War II, a new phase in the transatlantic alliance fostered a new kind of internationalism and a rich cultural environment for musical thought and practice.
Arthur Honegger’s Symphony No. 1. The Boston Symphony Orchestra’s First European Commission (1930).