Lang/ Tsujii/ Ensemble Dix - Und Sie Bewegte

If there's a place to be called "pictorial" in a special way, then we should think of Untermhaus, a small settlement below Osterstein Castle in Gera, Eastern Thuringia. Small in dimensions, houses and old workshops are clustered between the river Weisse Elster and the mountains. They look like forgotten contemporary witnesses because their reference point, the old castle above them, is ruined. The so-called Mohrenplatz is the starting point of the steep ascent to the castle, a kind of entrance for the castle and still today keeping the charm of ancient times. At this place, we find one of the oldest and most beautiful churches of today's Gera: St. Mary's, and the birthplace of Otto Dix, one of the 20th century's most famous painters, is neighboring, too. The church must have been a source of impression for Dix, who spent his childhood there in Untermhaus: strong walls, a high wooden arch, and it's most special thing, the multi-colored winged altar dating from medieval times. The Gera-based ensemble diX commissioned a cantata on this altar to be composed by Peter Helmut Lang from Thuringia. Each picture of the altar was described musically in one movement and also became the central topic of a special service during the ecclesiastical year.