Rehearse, discuss, create together

Collective with many faces in residence at Beethovenfest 2022

Spira Mirabilis could be freely translated into wondrous spiral of symmetry. The idea of the ensemble: They want to create total equity between all participants in a musical event, musicians and listeners. That is why there are no fixed positions, no hierarchy of authorities and no conductor. 

At Beethovenfest, the international group of musicians played in varying formations and at different locations: As string octet or mixed octet with strings and winds at intimate after-work-concerts at Beethovenhaus and Leoninum, in a joint concert with other artists such as Ensemble Resonanz at Viktoriabad, at a community district festival day at the district Brüser Berg, and as symphony orchestra at Pantheon Theater. No residency ensemble 2022 curated a residency as diverse and flexible as Spira Mirabilis.

Beyond the orchestra

The symphony orchestra seems to be an institution set in stone with its defined roles, authorities and hierarchies. Symphonic music is complex and needs many people to collaborate in perfection. For this, clearly assigned competence and leadership appears necessary. The professional symphony orchestra translates this into job descriptions and pay gaps: the concert master has the right to speak with the conductor; the section leaders lead the timing of their colleagues; soloists in the wind section are entitled to play first parts; and finally the conductor decides alone about the musical interpretation of the work. 

Since the time of Beethoven, Hector Berlioz and Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy, the musical direction of orchestras was transferred to a conductor who does not play himself. The result: The musicians of the orchestra have nearly no influence on the whole. Countless decisions are down to the conductor: the tempo, the balance between voices or parts, the phrasing of single passages, the sound quality or the leading of free tempo variations, the »tempo rubato«.

Orchestra of many conductors

Spira mirabilis was founded as a collective of musicians who wanted to reclaim how their orchestra would sound. An ensemble working in direct democracy cannot be called an orchestra anymore, explains violinist and founding member Lorenza Borrani. The members change the matrix of orchestral playing on several levels: On the level of rehearsing, on the level of performing and on the level of communicating with audiences. Everyone in the ensemble studies the score of the rehearsed work and all together take on the responsibility of the conductor to pass musical decisions and to keep the group together.

Rehearse, discuss and participate

The orchestral musicians vividly explain their rehearsal process to their audiences after each concert. It is important to the members of the group to include everyone, also the audience, into their participatory work. They had the extensive opportunity to share their perspectives at the district festival day at the Bonn district Brüser Berg, a part of the city less exposed to classical music. For and with the local community, they performed and discussed the thrilling string octet by Rumanian composer George Enescu.

Chamber music as foundation for orchestral performance

Each musician of the collective brings high skills into the ensembe. The members perform distinctive interpretations in chamber music settings. The musicians adopt the methods of chamber music rehearsal processes for the full orchestral setting. In both instances, they establish a principle of equity. Every musician needs to listen very carefully to the playing of the others to achieve a communality in timing and phrasing. 

Audiences witnessed this at the after-work-concert at Leoninum Bonn, where Schubert's octet for strings and winds was played in a refined, intimate rendition. The members of Spira performed the piece a second time within the opening evening »Homecoming« of the festival headquarters, inside the swimming pool of Viktoriabad.

The Pastorale set free

It is not only possible to rehearse great symphonies without a conductor, but the musical result is an incredibly gripping, liberated and vivacious interpretation. This was made evident for the audiences at Pantheon-Theater and Rhein Sieg Forum. The musicians of Spira Mirabilis played Beethoven's 6th symphony, the Pastorale. At the public discussion after the performance they explained how the intensive listening across the ensemble enables a spontaneous playing style that directly influences the sound. The audience agreed: many listeners congratulated the orchestra for their thrilling and touching Beethoven performance.