The Bayerische Staatsoper and its former Music Director Kirill Petrenko commissioned the opera “South Pole” from the Czech composer Miroslav Srnka in 2016. Now Music Director of the Berliner Philharmoniker, Petrenko has commissioned a major new symphonic work from Srnka for his orchestra. His “Superorganisms” receives its world premiere conducted by Petrenko. Superorganisms are forms of life in which homogenous living beings work together synergetically and organised between themselves – a “multiplication of the positive power of individuals”, as the composer explains. Typical examples of superorganisms are ant colonies and swarms of bees. An example of superorganisms in human culture is the symphony orchestra – and this is where Miroslav Srnka’s new piece begins.

Superorganisms are forms of life in which homogenous living beings work together synergetically and with their own organisation. The whole is more than the sum of its parts: The individual members would barely be viable on their own, but in the community they develop far beyond themselves – a “multiplication of the positive power of the individual”, as the composer Miroslav Srnka explains. Typical examples of superorganisms are ant colonies and swarms of bees. Coined in 1910 by the American biologist William Morton Wheeler, the term has acquired a new topicality in recent years. It is possible that humans are heading towards becoming a new species: away from the independent homo sapiens, and towards the interlinked elements of a larger group. In fact, an example of superorganisms in human culture which has long existed is the symphony orchestra – and this is where Miroslav Srnka’s new piece begins.

His works are performed at leading contemporary music festivals, and are found equally in the programmes of classical symphony orchestras and ensembles. He is also at home in music theatre; the opera led him to collaborate with Kirill Petrenko. South Pole, a full-length drama about Amundsen and Scott’s race to the South Pole, was commissioned by the Bayerische Staatsoper, and its former Music Director conducted the world premiere in 2016 in a production by Hans Neuenfels. Now their paths cross once more. The Berliner Philharmoniker and several other orchestras have commissioned Miroslav Srnka to compose an orchestral work. In this instance, those involved quickly agreed that  it should showcase the fullness and versatility of the philharmonic forces in a large symphonic ensemble, and for the composer it was also clear that his piece should take the character of the orchestral organism as its theme – with ideas which come from biology, but are nevertheless inspired by social observations.

“Superorganisms” is in four parts, without individual titles; each is headed by just subtly characterising tempo markings. The four movements examine, each with different settings, how groups and coalitions are formed, and it is in the “clash of the individual and the collective” (Srnka) that the opportunities and the risks lie: “Each member of the orchestra has an independent role, there are literally thousands of tiny points, lines and pillars of sound. The strings, for example, are sometimes treated almost soloistically, but only come into their own as a group. The independence of the part is hardly ever in pursuit of a soloistic expressive individuality.” Although there are many short burgeoning moments in the individual instruments, they always develop from the organic context. In the first part, for example, a sequence of precisely 1,374 four-part chords unfolds, emerging from each other according to specific rules of combination, as if vector forces determined a particular upwards or downwards movement of the parts in each case. This applies to the pitch as well as the parameters of tonal colour, instrumental combination and size of forces. Sometimes an element jumps out from the row, as if a shark had plunged into a shoal of fish – yet barely has the danger (or the disruption) passed than the group calms itself and adopts some collective measures in order to return to the opening state.

Is there a tendency towards harmony in nature? In “Superorganisms” Srnka embarks on a search for consonance – on the one hand, for sounds which tend towards consistency and want to linger, on the other hand for opportunities to translate such chords into something fluid. “The more consonant the intervals are, the more resonance with which they flow into each other; thus virtual spots of consonance emerge in the carpet of sound”. The combination of the individual parts in their groups reinforces their effects: in the community the individual does not become weaker, but stronger, and the world as a whole more multifaceted.

Malte Krasting
(January 2023)