CAROUSEL Chamber Music Ensemble - Viennese Mélange

Vanuit Mechelen, Carousel Chamber Music Ensemble conquers international concert stages. A few months after Wiener Mélange, the ensemble travels to the legendary Wigmore Hall in London and the renowned Mozartfest Würzburg. But first, Carousel settles in its home city on December 12 within the framework of the 'Predikheerlijke Winter', with a program that lets Viennese chamber music be heard at its most beautiful: refined, compelling, and full of surprising colors. CAROUSEL Chamber Music Ensemble: Wiener Mélange Annelien Van Wauwe, clarinet Alexandra Soumm, violin Samuel Nemtanu, violin Mathis Rochat, viola Louis Rodde, cello Franz Schubert (1797–1828) – Quartettsatz in C minor, D. 703 (1820) Gustav Mahler (1860–1911) – Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen from Fünf Rückert-Lieder, arr. for clarinet and string quartet Anton Webern (1883–1945) – Langsamer Satz (1905) Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (1756–1791) – Clarinet Quintet in A, K. 581 (1789) Delicate, layered, and full of character: like the Viennese coffee specialty from which this program takes its name, Carousel Chamber Music Ensemble serves a Wiener Mélange that lingers for a long time. A refined combination of distinct flavors and subtle nuances, in which romantic passion, quiet introspection, and timeless elegance meet. The ensemble, founded in 2019 by clarinetist Annelien Van Wauwe and composed of internationally acclaimed musicians, has built a strong reputation in a short time as one of the most fascinating chamber music ensembles of its generation. In Wiener Mélange brings together works in Carousel that, each in their own way, reflect the rich musical tradition of Vienna. Franz Schuberts Quartettsatz in C minor is one of the most poignant unfinished works from the chamber music repertoire. Written in 1820, it breathes a dramatic intensity and emotional charge that points forward to romanticism. Restlessness, vulnerability, and an almost palpable tension alternate with moments of moving lyricism. In barely ten minutes, Schubert unfolds a musical world that is as powerful as it is inevitable. Met Ich bin der Welt abhanden gekommen, the program reaches a moment of stillness. Gustav Mahler composed this Rückert song in 1901–1902 as a deeply personal meditation on seclusion, inner peace, and the refuge of art. In the special arrangement for clarinet and string quartet, the vocal line receives a new, wordless voice. The clarinet takes over the role of the human voice and lets Mahler's wistful melodies speak with an almost vocal intensity. The result is an intimate, transparent sound world in which melancholy and serenity keep each other in balance. Ook Anton Weberns Langsamer Satz originated in a period of infatuation and personal experience of happiness. The twenty-two-year-old composer wrote the work in 1905, long before he would develop the atonal and extremely concentrated style with which he would make history. Here, a distinct late-romantic language still sounds, full of broad melodic lines, rich harmonies, and an intense emotional expressiveness. The work breathes longing, tenderness, and ecstatic joy, and forms a surprising window onto a young Webern who still stands entirely in the tradition of Brahms and Mahler. The concert concludes with Mozarts Klarinetkwintet in A, K. 581, one of the absolute highlights of the chamber music repertoire. Written for his friend and clarinet virtuoso Anton Stadler, Mozart gave the clarinet a full place within the string quartet for the first time. The five voices enter into a continuous conversation, in which the clarinet now sings, then accompanies, or subtly merges into the ensemble. From the intimate Adagio to the playful Menuet to the sparkling finale: the quintet unites elegance, warmth, and a deeply human feeling. A masterpiece in which light and shadow, simplicity and refinement complement each other effortlessly. Like a true Wiener Mélange, this program combines contrasting flavors into one harmonious whole: drama and stillness, youthful passion and ripe wisdom, intimacy and virtuosity. Four composers, four different voices, connected by the same Viennese tradition and by the unique sound world of clarinet and strings.