Work of the Week – Wilfried Hiller: Apocalypse

A look at the end of time: Wilfried Hiller's new work Apocalypse will be premiered at the ION (International Organ Week Nuremberg) music festival on 2 July 2024. In addition to an instrumental ensemble, Johannes Euler as St John of Patmos, Anna-Lena Elbert as a colouratura soprano and the vocal ensemble Die Singphoniker will be performing in the vocal parts.

Apocalypse is Hiller's counterpart to his composition Creation from 2016. The composer has now expanded the instrumentation and created a mosaic of sound consisting of a male quartet and double bass, violin, harp, celesta and percussion with colouratura soprano, clarinet and grand piano. In this way, he spans the musical arc from the beginning of the world to its end. His music tells of man's responsibility for creation, of what cannot be known but can be hoped for, of what cannot be said but can be heard: Beyond the end is something new. The mystery of life remains, the vocalises of the angel's voice float in space.

Apokalypse by Wilfried Hiller: The End Is just the Beginning

The content of the composition Apocalypse is the meditation of the seer John of Patmos: he finds himself surrounded by scrolls, scholarly books, newspapers, flickering screens and loudspeakers: Millennia-old interpretations of the world and current news are streaming at him. "Where have you been, God?" he shouts. "Where are you, man?" he hears. He searches for answers in the starry skies of the Aegean, dives into the depths of existence, witnesses the riddles of the seven seals, experiences the drumming of the hooves of the apocalyptic horsemen, is driven further and further in his agonising questions until everything explodes in a boundless outburst of anger with which he challenges the God he has called upon. He finally answers with more than one counter-question. But in a completely different way than expected. He allows himself to look deep into his heart, into the heart of a disappointed and bitterly wounded lover: 

“My human, my human, why have you forsaken me?” (voice of God, from the libretto)

Anyone who would like to get to know a completely different facet of the composer Wilfried Hiller currently has the opportunity to do so in Stralsund: His children's opera Die Fabel von Filemon Faltenreich oder Die Fußballweltmeisterschaft der Fliegen (“The Fable of Filemon the Wrinkled or the Football World Cup of the Flies”) the can be seen at the zoo in a production by the Vorpommern Theatre in twelve performances until 18 July.

Further Reading:

Wilfried Hiller: Composer Profile

Apokalypse: Work Details and Online Score

Website Musikfest ION

Website Theater Vorpommern

photo: MUCHIB / Adobe