Film composer Enjott Schneider has created a work based on the Gilgamesh epic for the choir and orchestra of Heidelberg University
A specially created oratorio by film composer Enjott Schneider based on the 5,000-year-old Gilgamesh epic: The world premiere of ,,ABUBU - Die Sintflut (The Flood)" will be the focus of a concert on February 18, 2023, hosted by the University Choir and the University Orchestra - the Collegium Musicum of Heidelberg University. The basis for the libretto was created by Heidelberg Assyriologist Stefan Maul. Christoph Wittmann (tenor) and Matthias Horn (bass) have been secured as vocal soloists for the concert, which will open with Peter Tchaikovsky’s symphonic fantasy ,,The Tempest". The musical director is university music director Michael Sekulla. The program will be heard again on February 19. First impressions are provided by a film made during the rehearsals of the Collegium Musicum.
The genesis of the oratorio ,,ABUBU - The Flood" goes back to the university concert ,,Classics of Film Music", which was staged by the Collegium Musicum in the summer semester 2019. The composer Enjott Schneider, whose virtuoso organ toccata from the feature film ,,Schlafes Bruder" (1995) was part of the concert program, was also a guest. We were very pleased when the composer not only expressed his enthusiasm for our music-making, but also presented his idea of composing a work especially for us. Enjott Schneider had in mind the setting of a text in a language that was as old as possible," as Michael Sekulla explains. The composer was a professor of film music at the Munich Academy of Music and, in addition to numerous film scores, has also written orchestral works and operas.
Subsequently, a cooperation with Maul from the Seminar for Languages and Cultures of the Near East at the University of Heidelberg resulted. The Assyriologist is considered an expert on the Gilgamesh epic and has also compiled a new translation of this literary work. The text of the oratorio is based on this epic and is largely in Babylonian. As the university music director points out, Stefan Maul actively assisted the choir’s singers with the correct pronunciation. The university orchestra also had to learn a new language: Enjott Schneider set us an exciting task with numerous unusual playing techniques. He participated in our rehearsals and commented on his work. This enabled us to understand his ideas and express them musically," emphasizes Michael Sekulla.
Nearly 200 musicians and singers will be on stage for the world premiere. Enjott Schneider and Stefan Maul will give a short introduction to the work and its literary model. The trailer of the rehearsals for ,,ABUBU - Die Sintflut" is available online. In addition to musicians from the University Choir and the University Orchestra, the composer will also have his say.
The two concerts of the Collegium Musicum will take place in the auditorium of the New University, Grabengasse 3, beginning at 7 p.m. each night. Tickets are available for 19 euros (reduced 9 euros) at Dürninger (formerly Zigarren Grimm), Sofienstraße 11, at the Unishop, Augustinergasse 2, and at the box office.