Luciano Berio: Coro / Vito Zuraj: Automatones – Simon Rattle

The programme for the live-recorded musica viva concert on October 13, 2023 from the Isarphilharmonie in Gasteig HP8 also included the world premiere of “Automatones” for large orchestra. This new piece by the Slovenian composer Vito Žuraj (*1979) was commissioned by musica viva of Bayerischer Rundfunk. Created in 2022/23, the orchestral work deals with the mythological “Automatones” – metal statues of animals, humans and monsters created by the divine blacksmith Hephaestus and the Athenian craftsman Daedalus. When Heracles visited the workshop, he smashed one of the statues, mistaking it for a real person attacking him. For the composer, the Automatones represent “a primordial form of artificial intelligence, a theme that is currently shaping the world more than ever before. This inspired me to conduct sound research into illusions of seemingly infinite ascending tone sequences or rhythmic accelerations, as well as the use of different types of motor skill in general.” (Žuraj)