Schwerkraft und Gnade by Various, ned. 28 avg. 2022, Od (2022/2022), Dirigent Florian Helgath, Maschinenhalle Zeche Zweckel, Gladbeck, Germany

The French philosopher Simone Weil recognized gravity and grace as the two world-ruling forces to which the soul is subjected. This knowledge of the world makes her Lili Boulanger's sister in spirit. The psalm settings by the extraordinarily visionary composer, who died young, give expression to the collective crisis of Yahweh's people. Undaunted, she lets the lamentation chorus plunge into the bubbling depths in order to "fall upwards" into the light. In between, two simple, heartfelt motets by Igor Stravinsky offer a place of consolation: it was only in old age that he turned to prayer. While in the Ave Maria and the Pater Nosterthe maternal and paternal authorities are invoked, Francis Poulenc shows the Blessed Mother at the moment of greatest weakness. But "no poetry [...] is genuine if it excludes fatigue" (Simone Weil). In Boulanger's Vieille prière bouddhique , the human voice overcomes the horrors of civilization and language itself. Utopia is closed-mouth wonder. A Chorwerk Ruhr production for the Ruhrtriennale 2022.