Ghasele is the title of a setting of the poem ‘Schlußlied’ by Friedrich Rückert from the collection Wanderung (Zweiter Bezirk-Ghaselen). The ghasele itself is an Arabic and Persian lyrical form of poetry from pre-Islamic times. It flourished between the 13th and 14th centuries. The specifically German interest in Persian poetry emerged with Goethe. However, the affinity for the Orient increased in the 19th century and left behind an extensive repertoire of new types of poetry. Friedrich Rückert was a master of this poetic form.
We live in turbulent times. Crises, wars and catastrophes pave our paths through a world that has become uncertain and unmanageable and for which we ultimately bear responsibility ourselves. The lack of realisation that clever and forward-looking perspectives and strategies alone could guarantee human survival on our planet is a burden on social coexistence and leaves us at a loss.
In 2023 and 2024, my exploration of controversial topics gave rise to various small individual musical titles. They are self-contained and each dedicated to a person whom I would like to commemorate or who opened up new visions and to whom I would like to show great respect in view of their extraordinary commitment. I have summarised these short movements in a collection and called it ‘Geminids 23’.
This collection also includes the composition of the Ghasele. The composition is dedicated to the founder of the Volkschor, Ernst Zander, and the Berlin Oratorio Choir on the occasion of the 120th anniversary of his birth. Ernst Zander was a dentist and passionate musician who founded the Berliner Volkschor at the Volksbühne in 1904 and directed it until 1937. After being authorised by the Nazis, the choirmaster was expected to be a member of the NSDAP. Ernst Zander was unable to fulfil this requirement for various reasons. Using flimsy arguments based on regulations which meant that only professional musicians were accepted into the Reich Chamber of Culture and that all choirs had to be organised, anchored and brought into line with the Chamber of Music and then only led by corresponding party members, Ernst Zander was successfully ousted from the artistic direction of his choir. In view of the 120th anniversary of his birth, it is particularly important to me to honour the memory of this dedicated man.
Another aspect in the selection of the poem to be set to music remained an important motif in the composition from the very beginning. With the première of ‘Besinnung’, which was left behind as a fragment by Richard Strauss and which I was allowed to complete, the Berlin Oratorio Choir launched a late and unfinished choral work by the great late Romantic composer. Strauss had previously set the ‘Deutsche Motette’ to music, a poem that was also taken from Rückert’s collection Wanderung. He intended to continue the series of settings of these poems with the ‘Schlußlied’. He was no longer able to tackle this plan, let alone realise it. In my choice of poems, therefore, I am looking back at recent experiences.
