Prometheus

Melodies and rhythms from two song cycles by Schumann and Hétu form the musical-acoustic material for a new electronic techno work. Together with urban-surreal video clips, a multidimensional installation of human fears and longings is created.

In the twin events EPIMETHEUS and PROMETHEUS, a new work of art is created. It is based on songs by Hétu and Schumann, which are initially heard in their pure musical form, as an exposition and part of the work. The performing song duo is removed from the sphere of the unapproachable, they act on a low platform, surrounded by the audience.

The video installation interprets the song lyrics from a contemporary, digital-urban perspective. A kind of video still life has been created for each song: In the sequences, current media, urban and interpersonal developments are related to the pictorial thinking and love ideals of Romanticism and broken with them. The romantic poems portray images of nature as ideal and escape worlds; on the one hand, they collide with today’s urban reality, but on the other, they also capture an escapist zeitgeist. An irresolvable conflict between self and environment: dance is the last resort!

The commissioned composition “Prometheus” by Claas Krause for HIDALGO weaves the motivic material of the song cycles into techno and deep house sounds: In its larger form, the piece always remains rooted in the classical, while in its details it picks up on modern sound and musical aesthetics. The old is combined with the new. The end result is a work that is a fully-fledged composition according to classical standards and at the same time good dance music. With EPIMETHEUS, electronic sounds conquer the concert hall like intruders. At PROMETHEUS in Harry Klein, classical music seeks out its subcultural niche. What is foreign and what is native changes.