*this work has not yet been premiered. See Calendar for all six premiere dates.
Program Notes
In this time of constant noise, Wir invites us to remember that silence is the nourishing gift we now
most need.
Written by poet Rebecca Gayle Howell, this new bespoke text moves us through a lyric elegy for the
quiet we risk losing. As Howell prays for its return, she weaves her own English poetry with German
fragments from Paul Celan, a poet survivor of the Holocaust who knew all too well the dangers
caused by constant din.
We begin with a sober chant— Die Urnen der Stille sind leer / Die Urnen der Stille sind leer / Silence, your
ash is spread. As the cycle advances, the two poets call and respond to each other in a dialogue that
echoes across the canyons of history into our present hope that it’s not too late to recover solitude.
Wir is composed by Reena Esmail for violinist Hilary Hahn and baritone Matthias Goerne. At their
request, there is no piano between them: audiences will experience only violin and voice,
accompanied by nothing but the silence the piece seeks. These two exceptional voices meet one
another in disquiet and rest, requiem and revelation as they reveal what the divine Noone says once
the noise falls away.
Wir – the German word for We. Polyvocal, bilingual, and minimal, Esmail and Howell’s Wir whirls
with faith that silence can still guide us back to one another and to ourselves.
Text
Full text available upon request. Movement listing:
I. Die Urnen der Stille
II. Noone Sees
III. Einiges Schweig
IV. Finsternis / Wilderness
V. Einiges Sprach
VI. Silence Come
VII.Wir
Recording
(archival recording will be available after premieres)
Premiere/Performances
Wir will be premiered on October 24, 2026 by Hilary Hahn and Matthias Goerne, at Spivey Hall in Atlanta, GA. Subsequent premieres will be at University of Georgia, Davies Symphony Hall (presented by San Francisco Symphony), UCSB Arts & Lectures, Walt Disney Concert Hall (presented by Los Angeles Philharmonic) and La Jolla Music Society.