Spannungsfelder II (Areas in Conflict)

»Orient meets Occident«

Performed on 01 May 2022 at Messehalle 4 in Frankfurt (Oder)

Johann Wolfgang Goethe:
Who knows himself and others / Will also here realise: / Orient and Occident / Can no longer be separated

Rudyard Kipling:
East is East, and West is West, and never the twain shall meet

Who is right? Goethe? Kipling? Both? Or possibly – both to some degree?

We explored this together with young people from Strausberg and Frankfurt (Oder) in this Education Project – musically and scenically.

We looked at the areas of conflict and differences that can divide peoples but also bring them together.

The unfamiliar can be frightening, and fear can lead to war. Where does this militant rejection of the unknown come from?

And yet the unfamiliar and unknown has always fascinated people. Why else have bold explorers throughout history wanted to discover the world – or unknown worlds?

Why does the unfamiliar and unknown repel some people and frighten them? Why does that which is foreign and unknown magically attract others and fuel their curiosity?

Together with the young people, we used musical and artistic means to explore how the Orient and the Occident have been at war with each other for centuries and have observed, influenced and learned from each other with great curiosity for just as long.

That is why the simple formula is not true:  East is East and West is West. No, the West has long since arrived in the East, and the East has long since arrived in the West. So, Goethe was right.

Music is a wonderful language for describing these bridges and ‘peaceful conquests’ of the East by the West and of the West by the East. It has been for centuries. It requires no words; you simply need to listen carefully. As we have done and passed on in this project.

Music:

Ferit Tüzün: Ceşmebaşı Süiti   
Fazil Say: Hezarfen / Concerto for Ney and Orchestra / 2nd movement
Ludwig van Beethoven: Turkish March      
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart: Overture to the opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail / with variations of Turkish instruments
Maurice Ravel: Bolero

With Howard Griffiths as musical director and pupils from the Europa-Gymnasium Frankfurt (Oder) and the Oberstufenzentrum Strausberg.