Pavane

Performers

Tamina Biber (Basel) → soprano
David Rother (Freiburg) → baritone
Choir of the College of Music Freiburg
Large Choir and Orchestra of the College of Music Basel (FHNW)
Martin Wettges, Frank Markowitsch → Conductor

Program

Richard Wagner → Siegfried Idyll WWV 103
Gabriel Fauré → Pavane op. 50
Camille Saint-Saëns → Danse macabre op. 40
Gabriel Fauré → Requiem op. 48

On May 10, 2025, a choir and orchestra concert will take place at the Fribourg College of Music in cooperation with the Basel College of Music (FHNW). The student choirs of both universities with a total of 120 singers will perform a program that depicts a life: Birth (Richard Wagner's "Siegfried Idyll"), coming of age (Gabriel Fauré's "Pavane", which is named after a dance that brought many couples together), old age ("Danse macabre" by Camille Saint-Saëns) and death ("Requiem" by Gabriel Fauré). The FHNW orchestra will be playing.

Frank Markowitsch, Professor of Choral Conducting at the College of Music Freiburg, is enthusiastic about the concept: "I think the dramaturgical arc from birth to death is very beautiful and the pieces are also a wonderful combination musically." The concert begins with the "Siegfried Idyll", which is about the birth of a child. Richard Wagner wrote it for his wife Cosima to commemorate the birth of their first son. This is followed by the "Pavane" by French composer Gabriel Fauré about growing up. The piece refers to a famous dance: the "Pavane", a circle dance originating from Italy, was extremely popular at European courts in the 15th and 16th centuries. "It was a shouting dance, basically a love dance, which was always about women and men getting closer to each other and finding couples," explains Frank Markowitsch. Afterwards, the dance of death "Danse macabre" by French composer Camille Saint-Saëns gives us our first glimpse of death. The final farewell to life is Gabriel Fauré's "Requiem", with which the concert ends - in a conciliatory way, says Frank Markowitsch: "The beautiful thing about the Fauré Requiem is that the gesture is so mild. Death is not cold or harsh, but peaceful and conciliatory."

Choir cooperation Freiburg-Basel for great works

The concert was conceived by Martin Wettges, lecturer in choral conducting and director of the large choir at the College of Music in Basel. The first performance will take place in St. Martin's Church in Basel, the second will be conducted jointly by Martin Wettges and Frank Markowitsch in the concert hall of the College of Music in Freiburg. This is the first major cooperation project between the Basel and Freiburg music academies, but the plan is to consolidate it in the coming years, explains Frank Markowitsch: the plan is to perform a major work together at regular intervals. Large-scale projects and extensive programs require a large number of voices and singers, which is why it makes sense for several choirs to join forces. But that is not the only advantage, says Frank Markowitsch: "Choirs from France or Switzerland work differently, rehearse differently and interact differently than choirs in Germany. It is interesting for all of us, but especially for our students, to be able to experience this. The choral scene in France and Switzerland is very lively. And it is one of the great advantages of the border triangle that cross-border projects can be easily carried out here."