“Der Zerfall einer Illusion in farbige Scherben” [The disintegration of an illusion into coloured shards] is the title of a 2021 painting by the young Leipzig painter Gustav Sonntag, in which abrupt contrasts collide. Sonntag observes the present with an unsparing and socially critical eye, and aims to reinterpret the traditions of the Leipzig School with his painting in the figurative style. Philipp Maintz discovered the painter and his work by chance. The gritty, yet poetic title evoked memories for Maintz and inspired him to compose his new orchestral work.

In his orchestral works of recent years, composer Miroslav Srnka has further divided the orchestra into its “individual sections” and in particular, has individualised the body of strings, leading ultimately to the creation of a gigantic “superorganism”. In his new concert composition “Is This Us?” two solo horns confront a group of many instruments – an orchestra woven into many individual voices. This confrontation is inspired by a passage from Winter by the Norwegian author Karl-Ove Knausgaard, a reflection on identities: “For we ourselves, we are always who we are, whereas for others who we are is something which gradually emerges, something which arrives and then disappears again.

“Le Carnaval des animaux” has become Saint-Saëns’ most famous work, quoted, arranged and transcribed countless times – for all possible occasions, in the widest range of contexts and with a huge variety of text interpolations. The “Aquarium” has also acquired such popularity that it is played before every film shown at the Cannes Film Festival. The historical-critical edition by Sabina Teller Ratner (Bärenreiter) is the crowning achievement of a lifetime’s work.

Why Mendelssohn when the original Bach is available? The new edition of Bach's "St. Mat-thew Passion" in Felix Mendelssohn's version offers the possibility of an authentic perfor-mance as in 1829 and 1841.

The Jena Mahler cycle enters the home stretch. Short works by Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini preceding each Mahler symphony have become an integral part of concerts for audiences. At the beginning of March, “Anima” was performed before Mahler’s Eighth.

What better present could there be for a composer than making his works available in the best possible form? 4 September 2024 is the 200th anniversary of Anton Bruckner’s birth. A season full of performances of his works awaits. And several of these will be memorable first performances, as Musikwissenschaftlicher Verlag Wien is preparing new editions of the much-discussed versions of the Bruckner symphonies. These include the annulled Symphony in D minor of 1869, the first version of the Fourth, the Sixth, Seventh and the Adagio of 1887–1889 and the second version of the Eighth.

The experience of fragility in people’s own existence and the collective threat have found manifold echoes in the arts. New orchestral works by Matthias Pintscher, Andrea Lorenzo Scartazzini, Miroslav Srnka, Beat Furrer and Charlotte Seither are powerful testimony to an exceptional period.