folk.lore Luzern

The program features four Scottish
folk songs arranged for string quartet by the Maxwell Quartet, interwoven with Edvard Grieg’s Holberg Suite. The folk songs are performed by four musicians from the orchestra—
different musicians for each song—and are played between the movements
of the Holberg Suite. The Holberg Suite is a five-movement suite composed in 1884 to mark the 200th
birthday of the Danish-Norwegian poet Ludvig Holberg. The suite
is formally based on the dance and song forms of the 18th century—that is, Holberg’s lifetime—
but is written in the Romantic style. Grieg combines Baroque forms with the neoclassical
musical language of his time. The work was originally composed for piano, but his own
arrangement for string orchestra became far better known.

The selected Scottish folk songs blend harmoniously and stylistically into the
atmosphere created by the Holberg Suite and cast the well-known suite in a whole new
light. In keeping with the ensemble’s guiding principle, the entire program is performed entirely from memory. This results in a unique concert, visually uncluttered by music stands,
which, as with the last project in December 2024, is intended to offer the audience a
gripping and exhilarating experience. To make the most of the freedom afforded by performing from memory, visual elements—such as movement while playing—will also be integrated into the performance. For these
staged elements, Anne-Catherine Knöchelmann, who brings experience in theater and opera direction,
will be present at select rehearsals to provide artistic support to the ensemble.

The “Camerata Memoria Cordis” is a chamber orchestra that generally performs without a conductor
and plays all of its programs from memory.
In the fall of 2023, Michèle Rüegg and Erik Dolci first developed the idea of founding an orchestra
that plays without sheet music. Time and again, they envisioned this project in their minds. When
the opportunity arose as part of their bachelor’s project at HSLU, they saw it as the perfect
chance to bring this vision to life: to bring together a small orchestra and
performance on stage unlike anything rarely seen in the world of classical music.
With the performance of their bachelor’s project “Ad Libitum” in December 2024 at Lucerne University of Applied Sciences and Arts,
the foundation was laid for the creation of the “Camerata Memoria Cordis.”
Playing from memory fosters ensemble playing and the development of special human
relationships within the ensemble. Compared to a performance using sheet music, it allows for
a much freer and more intense shared musical experience and produces a particularly expressive
result on stage. With this concept, every single musician in the orchestra plays a
pivotal and important role. The resulting, evenly distributed responsibility strengthens
cohesion and creates a unique sense of unity on stage.
Feedback from the audience and participating musicians regarding the Ad Libitum project has
confirmed all these aspects and paved the way for the continuation of this idea.
The name “Camerata Memoria Cordis” aptly summarizes the orchestra’s concept. It
combines the word “Memoria,” meaning memory, with “Cordis,” which stands for both heart and string.


Note: This text was translated by machine translation software and not by a human translator. It may contain translation errors.

The box office opens one hour before the concert begins