Nine unfinished Symphonies
CD 1
Unfinished Symphony 1 15:06
Unfinished Symphony 2 08:48
Unfinished Symphony 3 00:38
Unfinished Symphony 4 12:13
Unfinished Symphony 5 04:34
Leo Deneve _ viola
Jeffrey Powers _ horn
Marc Vertessen _ clarinet
Royal Flemish Philharmonic
conductor: Muhai Tang
CD 2
Unfinished Symphony 6 06:22
Unfinished Symphony 7 11:58
Unfinished Symphony 8 08:49
(In memoriam John Cage)
Unfinished Symphony 9 14:44
Lyrics: Lied des Gefangenen and an excerpt from Traumbilder by Heinrich Heine, and excerpts from the articles 1 and 27 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Lena Lootens _ soprano
BRTN-Choir, rehearsed by Vic Nees
Royal Flemish Philharmonic
conductor: Muhai Tang
The Nine Unfinished Symphonies were conceived as one entity. They are written in my musical native tongue; the musical grammar and idioms with which I have become so familiar that I can converse in them spontaneously, without thinking, so that I can devote my full attention to what I actually want to do. It appears that we need narratives, such as the ‘sacred’ number nine with symphonies, or the concept of the Unfinished, which stands in sharp contrast to the fragmentary or the ‘uncapitalized’ unfinished.
Without narrative, art possesses no value. Diametrically opposed to this, however, is our awareness that these narratives, upon closer inspection, do not make sense.
(Boudewijn Buckinx)
