The lyric poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke likes to be morbid. Thus it does’nt surprise that the composer Alois Bröder lets end his music to texts by the poet with the simple gesture of dying away: After 15 minutes full of deep, enormous however also intimately tender orchestra colors, the mezzosoprano is left alone with one single tone and Rilkes language, which unites live and death, laughter and weeping in itself in such a singular way. The premiere of Bröders Lachen. Weinen. Blühen. Vergehen. at the beginning of the 3. Symphony Concert remains in reminiscence the most exciting in this evening, which however was’nt avaricious with exciting at all.
Westdeutsche Zeitung, 16.1.2004
New, unusual and innovative the Niederrheinische Sinfoniker played under the direction of Kenneth Duryea in the third symphony concert in the Seidenweberhaus. Expected with tension: the premiere of Alois Bröders Lachen. Weinen. Blühen. Vergehen., a "music for mezzosoprano and large orchestra". It is an orchestra song in the tradition Mahlers and Schönbergs, which take four texts Rainer Maria Rilkes as literary material. The remark Bröders, Rilkes texts are able "to express inexpressible", he converts into tones. Into a sound, which is determined of woodwinds and piano, the voice gropes carefully inside: words don’t stand at the beginning, but a vocalise, which finally changes in language. The soloist Uta Christina Georg recites the Solem Hour on only one tone. The accompanying orchestra creates in large a calm structure, which is interspersed by numerous animated micro cosmoses and swells in waves from mezzoforte to forte; occasionally the voice goes down in this.
Smoothly, with "falling" sounds of celesta and winds, the transition happens to the second poem It is I, nightingale to which upward pulling high strings are confronted. Particularly here melody-leading and inner strife of the accompanying motives remind of Mahler. Impressively and at the same time a circle conclusion is the Closing Piece, to which the orchestra moves twitching chromatically upward. The human voice takes up its thread with wordless humming also here and ends the work on a recitation tone, the last words often repeating. A drum, which strikes the time as to a conduct, suggests, what the text says: "Death is great". Woodwinds which imitate rhythms of bouncing balls, celesta figures and strings, quietly again working up, accompany the events.
Christian Dijkstal
(in: Rheinische Post Krefeld, 15.1.2004)