Rooted rhythmically in the American Indian past and harmonically in that of European classical music, he brought these musical contrasts together into a new and exciting unity. In the 1970s, Moondog traded in the Viking clothing of his New York street period for a wool cap and coat in the Ruhr region of Germany, which became his new home. Shortly before his surprising death, an encounter with the principle cellist of the Bochum Symphony, Wolfgang Sellner, lead to the idea of founding a string ensemble, Bracelli. Bracelli is Moondog’s favored constellation for a string ensemble made up of two violas, two celli, bass and percussion. Moondog composed his entire life for this special instrumentation. Contact to the Swedish percussionist and Moondog student Stefan Lakatos (Trimba percussion) lead eventually to the founding of the ensemble Bracelli in 2002, the only string ensemble in the world to dedicate itself to the music of Moondog.

In the context of “open systems 2005”, true world premiers of Moondog compositions will be presented for the first time since his death. The Ensemble Bracelli has unearthed numerous treasures from the unpublished Moondog legacy and on this evening will present almost exclusively world premiers and premiers for the ensemble instrumentation, for instance: pieces from the so-called “Toot Suites” and from the later “Organ Books” as well as three compositions dedicated to Stefan Lakatos from the 80s which will receive their world premiers after almost 20 years.

Matthias Feger : Viola
Marko Genero : Viola
Wolfgang Sellner : Violoncello
Philip Willerding-Bach : Violoncello
Horst Wischnowski : Kontrabass
Stefan Lakatos : Trimba

data privacy policy