Cabinet of Folksongs

‘A musical work is never alone – it always has a large family to get along with, (…) and it must be able to live in the present in many different ways.’
− Luciano Berio


With ‘Cabinet of Folksongs’, the Zafraan Ensemble, together with Latvian soprano Katrīna Paula Felsberga, marks both of the 100th birthdays of composer Luciano Berio and singer Cathy Berberian with a project that explores the tension between folk music and avant-garde, between individual expression, cultural appropriation and creative engagement with traditional music. The starting point for this is Luciano Berio’s Folk Songs, premiered in 1964, a cycle of eleven folk songs of various origins arranged for soprano and ensemble, which he wrote for his then wife, the singer Cathy Berberian, and which is now considered one of the classics of the post-war avant-garde. These are juxtaposed with eleven world premieres of short miniatures for soprano and ensemble, commissioned from eleven composers of diverse backgrounds. The new compositions are based on ‘dainas’, short pre-Christian texts, songs, proverbs and spells collected by the Latvian ethnologist Krišjānis Barons at the end of the 19th century, for which he had an elaborately crafted cabinet built – the ‘Cabinet of Folksongs’.
Today, the collection is considered a central part of Latvia’s national cultural memory. At the same time, it forms the basis for an artistic debate that actively distances itself from a nationalistic appropriation of cultural heritage and seeks alternative, artistically productive ways of appropriation characterised by dialogue and empathy. The programme is complemented by Louis Andriessen’s ‘Letter from Cathy’, a setting of a letter written by Cathy Berberian in 1964.

Zafraan Ensemble

Liam Mallett flute
Martin Posegga saxophone
Emmanuelle Bernard violin
Josa Gerhard viola
Martin Smith cello
Adam Goodwin double bass
Clemens Hund-Göschel piano
Anna Viechtl harp
Daniel Eichholz, Minhye Ko percussion
Horia Dumitrache clarinet

Katrīna Paula Felsberga soprano
Miguel Pérez Iñesta conductor

Sebastian Hanusa dramaturgical consultant
Piotr van Gielle Ruppe production manager
Sofia Surgutschowa PR and management
Swami Silva graphic designer

With support by the Hauptstadtkulturfonds Berlin.
In cooperation with the Embassy of Latvia in Germany and with the friendly support by the Finland Institute Berlin.