Institution harmonique As part of the 65th anniversary of the Montpellier-Heidelberg twinning and the Nouveau Festival Radio France, we are pleased to invite you to the exhibition and concert "Institution harmonique" conceived by KlangForum Heidelberg and the Cité des Arts - Conservatoire à rayonnement régional Montpellier - paying tribute to Salomon de Caus and Hermann von Helmholtz. Attend two French premieres in the presence of new music composers Annesley Black and Robin Hoffmann. Having passed away exactly 400 years ago, Salomon de Caus (1576-1626) is regarded as one of the most enlightened minds of his time. Designer of Heidelberg's Hortus Palatinus, a paradise garden animated by numerous “marvels” (spectacular water features, automata, hydraulic organ), he also established himself as a music theorist with his work Institution Harmonique. The exhibition, sound installation, and concert pay tribute to this inventor, whose genius bears the mark of an era when music, architecture, astronomy, and perspective were one. 250 years after de Caus, another researcher specializing in the study of sound published a work in Heidelberg that defined his era: Théorie physiologique de la musique fondée sur l’étude des sensations auditives (1863) by Hermann von Helmholtz. Two works commissioned by KlangForum Heidelberg offer a contemporary perspective on the personality of Helmholtz (1821-1894), an emblematic figure of both the German professor and the music-loving scientist (in the modern sense of the term), and create a link between two universal scholars of their time - as well as between their periods of activity in Heidelberg and their legacy. *** Exhibition and sound installation times: 5:30 p.m. (under the direction of Laurent Lellouch, professor of musical culture at the Cité des Arts) Concert time: 6:00 p.m. Works from the Renaissance to the present day, tribute to Salomon de Caus and Hermann von Helmholtz voice | SCHOLA HEIDELBERG instruments | ensemble aisthesis conductor | Ekkehard Windrich The KlangForum Heidelberg is an association promoting and presenting new and contemporary music. Its two professional ensembles, SCHOLA HEIDELBERG (vocal ensemble) and ensemble aisthesis (instrumental ensemble), are an integral part of it. THE PROGRAM Claude le Jeune (1528-1600) Le Printemps (excerpts) Luca Marenzio (1553-1599) Madrigals for six voices (excerpts) Clara Schumann (1819-1896) Six Lieder op.23 after Hermann Rollett (excerpts) Claude Debussy (1862-1919) Première Rhapsodie for clarinet and piano Albert Roussel (1869-1937) Ciel, aer et vents (excerpts from two Poèmes de Ronsard op.26 for voice and transverse flute) Annesley Black (*1979) Dans les moments importants de la vie on est toujours seul (based on texts by women who knew Helmholtz) for eight voices, flute, bass, clarinet, double bass, trombone, percussion, and electronics (French premiere) Robin Hoffmann (*1970) Helmholtz in der Badewanne des Archimedes for soprano, baritone, flute, clarinet, trombone, percussion, piano, and electronics (French premiere) Free admission subject to availability in the Edgar Varèse auditorium. Sunday, July 5, 2026 at 7:00 p.m. Concert-expo Institution harmonique at Betriebswerk Heidelberg Monday, July 6, 2026 at 6:30 p.m. Meeting with the artists and composers at Maison de Heidelberg Tuesday, July 7, 2026 at 5:30 p.m. Concert-expo Institution harmonique at the Cité des Arts
Event from the official Montpellier agenda; venue: Cité des Arts; address: 13 Avenue du Professeur Grasset, 34090, Montpellier.
Source: Agenda Montpellier