What could be more similar to a string quartet than a vocal quartet? And yet, even within the ensembles, the personalities, characteristics and individualities are clearly distinguishable. The group dynamics, the coherence of the timbres and the game of reflections, in which the various elements recognise each other, diverge and converge, are aspects of the almost daily work of the ensembles SoloVoices and Quartetto Maurice.

‘Spiegel Spiele’ invites the composers Justė Janulytė and Bernhard Lang to work on different scales: large eight-part ensemble, double quartet, quartet, trio and duo. In her work ‘Nodo infinito’, Justė Janulytė develops a soundscape in which the two quartets blend so tightly that it gradually becomes impossible to distinguish the human voices from the strings. Bernhard Lang, meanwhile, constructs a complex and expansive dramaturgy. He experiments with various combinations, from duos to double quartets, in a world influenced by the philosophers and alchemists of the Renaissance. Inspired by the ‘Tabula Smaragdina’, his work unfolds like a magic formula.

A co-production by: Associazione Metamorfosi Notturne – Festival Musica in Prossimità (Italy), Festival Rainy Days (Luxembourg), Associazione Musica Antiquanova – Festival Distat Terra (Argentina) and SoloVoices (Switzerland).