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The thirteenth concert season of the Brno Contemporary Orchestra (BCO) is themed Auscultation—the medical practice of examination by listening. Under the guise of medical inspiration, the orchestra delves into a musical diagnosis of the heart, lungs, stomach, and voice, as well as the act of listening itself, exploring whether medical diagnostics can be bridged with music. The ensemble’s November program, titled Pneumo, will take place on November 20 at the Orlovna on Mendel Square.
"Auscultation is a term and a method we borrowed from medical diagnostics. While strictly exact in medicine, in the realm of art history, 'examination by listening' and 'places of listening'—performed without phonendoscopes or stethoscopes—strike us as exceptionally poetic. An increasing share of music is being attributed to the art of listening, where instead of experts, we seek 'enthusiastic novices' who want to hear the new rather than confirm the old. The thirteenth season of the Brno Contemporary Orchestra is dedicated to the art of listening and to our listeners," explained Viktor Pantůček, the ensemble's dramaturg, regarding the unconventional programming.
The orchestra launched the new season on September 18 at St. Anne's Chapel in Brno, near the transplant center. The aptly named Cardio program offered listeners a biometric composition by Rudolf Drozd, Galina Ustvolskaya’s Fifth Symphony, Miloslav Kabeláč’s Fateful Dramas of Man, and Michael Gordon’s eccentrically minimalist composition Thou Shalt! / Thou Shalt Not!. The October Neuro program was created in collaboration with the Exposition of New Music, the Brno Philharmonic Education Center, and the male choir Láska opravdivá. It commemorated the 150th anniversary of Bedřich Smetana’s deafness, featuring three different interpretations of the composer’s My Country and a complete performance of his male choruses.
On November 20, the BCO will perform at the Orlovna on Mendel Square with a concert subtitled Pneumo, commemorating the forty children who drowned at Mendel Square during the war year of 1944. In collaboration with the Divergent Connections Orchestra, the program will feature the world premiere of a work for "long inhalation and exhalation" by Adrián Demoč, and "divergent breathing" by ensemble leader Pavel Zlámal. These premieres will be complemented by works by Krzysztof Penderecki and Pierre Boulez. The soloist for the evening will be clarinetist Marek Švejkar, conducted by Pavel Šnajdr.
