“Zeitgeist is the thought and feeling of a time. The term describes the peculiarity of a particular epoch, or the attempt to visualize it. “
(Lutz Lemma & Joseph Hiery)
The ensemble zeitgeist was launched in 2013 from a simple need – the pleasure of playing music together. This also describes two main priorities of the group:
· The chamber music´s sounds / breathing / moving / life. According to the motto of the Musketeers “Un pour tous, tous pour un” (Paris, 1625) there is also a touch of socialism in the work of zeitgeist. At the same time, everyone and no one is a soloist and therefore irreplaceable for the music at any time.
· The satisfaction of a very personal desire – to create music at a high level. This self-serving impulse contains the doom. Every magical moment is to be repeated and even better, one remains the strictest critic.
zeitgeist gave concerts among others in Wiener Konzerthaus, Brucknerhaus/Linz, Innsbrucker Festwochen der Alten Musik, but also in the ´Theatre Rutebeuf´ in Clichy (FRA), Festival ´musica sacra´ and Barockfestial in St. Pölten. The first CD Production was published 2017 with the project titel „father and son“. zeitgeist explores and experiments – takes time to make the music of another time in the now audible. The enormously versatile sound body allows the ensemble to immerse itself in a broad part of music history.
“Whoever plays the lute, the noblest instrument among the others, must play it nobly, with great invention and varied expression] … [the gamba should draw the arcs completely, clearly and soundly … a foundation of good counterpoint and Practice] … [The violin is to be enriched with various and long passages, with jokes, echoes, answers, fughets, repeated in different positions, accents, affects, muted arches, with groppi and varied trills … “(Agazzari, Agostino )
The work of the ensemble – the constant exploration of personal and collective musical boundaries on the way to a joint, informed interpretation.
The success gives the strategy of the formation right:
2015 – winner of the renowned international H.I.F. Biber competition in St. Florian
The selected international jury rewards the ensemble with the Franz Joseph Aumann Prize awarded by the St. Florian Abbey for new discoveries and innovative interpretation.
2014 – finalists of the Biagio Marini competition in Neuburg an der Donau, Germany.
“Brilliantly coordinated, sensitive virtuosos … […] … the beauty of the historical instruments was particularly evident. Excited applause rewarded the young artists, of whom we absolutely want to hear more! “
(From “der neue Merker 10/2013”)