Christian Jost: Berlin Symphony & Lover‐Skysong

In his works Christian Jost is always in search of magical moments. His music is unswervingly topical, poetic and associative - it tells stories for and about people. He is thus fully anchored in a tradition of world premieres, which had its last great representatives in Gustav Mahler or Giacomo Puccini, and within which concert halls and opera houses were places of confrontation with the present and current events

The bracket for the works on Christian Jost's New Master debut is the magic of opposites. "When in the second part of the BerlinSymphony the saxophone emerges from a pulsating orchestral sound and then retreats further and further into tonal isolation, the atmosphere in which the entire work moves is installed," is how Christian Jost characterizes the homage to his hometown that was premiered and recorded in 2015 with the Konzerthausorchester Berlin under the baton of Iván Fischer. Vibraphone, piano, harp and large orchestra reflect the energetic overall sound of Berlin, interspersed with the repetitive rhythms of Berlin nightlife. The saxophone roams through this energetic soundscape on behalf of the listener, so to speak, and questions the relationship of the self to the moving urbanity

While the BerlinSymphony translates the macro perspective on Berlin into sound, the lover-sky song focuses on the intimate memories of the togetherness of a lovers' couple. The newly composed work, which will be premiered on June 20, 2016 at the Neue-Meister concert in Berlin, was recorded with the Deutsches Kammerorchester Berlin under the baton of Christian Jost himself. The orchestra will be accompanied by a trio of percussion, electric bass and piano. Jost characterizes the course of the composition as follows: "Already the Adagio of the beginning points to the illusion in which this idiosyncratic fusion sound flows and leads to ever new percussive and harmonic variations. What remains is a grateful melancholy of the experience in the dark bell sound mix of piano, electric bass and vibraphone

Christian Jost is one of the great contemporary composers. His eight full-length operas and a large number of great symphonic works are now part of the repertoire of European stages and orchestras and are performed worldwide. He works within a tradition of world premieres that has been at the heart of musical culture for centuries and is now being revived by Neue Meister. Jost is always on the lookout for modern and exciting narrative levels for his music theatres and develops innovative works, which he creates in a magical dramaturgy that dissolves time and space. His wife, mezzo-soprano Stella Doufexis, who died far too early in 2015, was the source and the inspiring heart of all his works and artistic activity.