Artists: Daniel Hope, Klaus Maria Brandauer, Sergei Nakariakov, Hans-Kristian Sørensen, Ib Hausmann, Jean Raffard, Annika Pigorsch, Rachel Gough

British violinist, Daniel Hope, whose accolades include the Evening Standard “Classical Performer 2001” award, a Gramophone and Classical Brits nomination, and who had been voted Young Artist of the Year for the second time by Gemany’s FonoForum magazine, created a unique project called “War and Pieces”. It began in summer 2001, and finally offered a fascinating exploration of Music and War.

The Oscar-winning actor Klaus Maria Brandauer, best known for his roles in Out of Africa and Mephisto, joined forces with seven of the world’s most exciting young musicians – Sergei Nakariakov (Trumpet, winner of the 2002 ECHO Instrumentalist of the Year Award), Daniel Hope (Violin), Hans-Kristian Sørensen (ECM’s star Percussionist), Ib Hausmann (Clarinet, winner of the German Critics Prize), Jean Raffard (Solo Trombonist of the Paris Opera), Annika Pigorsch (from Eschenbach’s NDR-Sinfonieorchester) and Rachel Gough (Solo Bassoon of the London Symphony Orchestra) – for an unforgettable evening, with a semi-staged production of Stravinsky’s magical, musical masterpiece, “A Soldier’s Tale”.

Brandauer said: “This extraordinary work of music is simply a fascinating story. And because there is spoken word it’s very simple to understand just how powerful the combination of words and music can be. We are artists. Quite simply: We are against war! By doing what we do, we can think carefully about our actions. And by thinking about them, we can try and make people that see and listen to us, think about their actions too.”

An important question had been asked before the Stravinsky. What role has war played in music over the centuries, both on and off the battlefield...? Were the musicians sent into battle leading war, or was war leading them? The answer was given in “Militärmusik“ with marches and music by Beethoven, Kurt Weill and others, mixed with poetry and texts about war and peace, recited by Mr Brandauer.

In addition, Daniel Hope had commissioned the young German composer, Jan Müller-Wieland to transcribe Beethoven’s Egmont Ouverture specifically for the Stravinsky jazz and cabaret-like instrumentation of “A Soldier’s Tale”. Brandauer read Goethe’s famous monologue from Egmont, entitled “Long Live War!”. Müller-Wieland, born in 1966 in Hamburg, and recent winner of the 2002 Ernst-von-Siemens prize, said of his transcription: „This arrangement is a fictitous phantasy about my relationship and understanding of Beethoven and Stravinsky, and their relationship to one another.”

The combination of seven musicians from different countries (including Israel, Russia, Germany and England) was also an attempt to strive for awareness of peace through music. Yehudi Menuhin has been a great champion of this ideal, which is why the first performance took place at his festival in Gstaad in August 2001.