Gruppen
Premiered at the Donaueschingen Festival by Bruno Maderna, Pierre Boulez, and Stockhausen himself in the early 1950s, this work marks a true turning point in the 20th-century repertoire. The use of the orchestra, divided into three groups positioned around the audience, created a completely innovative spatialization of sound, the likes of which hadn't been seen since the polyphonies of the Renaissance.
This work is rarely performed, both due to its difficulty and the need for a suitable space, different from traditional concert halls, to execute it properly.
Type (Documentaire / Documentaire fiction / Série documentaire)DocumentaryGenre en anglaisArts & Culture Directed by Olivier MilleSupported by Ministère de la Culture (DMD)DistributionEcho Year1986Duration26min
The MUSICA Festival in Strasbourg organized a performance of GRUPPEN in 1989, held in a vast SNCF workshop, a construction from the early 20th century where high-speed trains (TGVs) are repaired.
This extraordinary setting, where half-dismantled locomotives surrounded the musicians in concert attire, provided a unique opportunity to film this work and capture the dialogue between the three conductors leading GRUPPEN.
Olivier Mille directed a ten-minute prologue where the three conductors—Michael Gielen, Peter Eötvös, and Arturo Tamayo—each share their perspectives on this multifaceted work.
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