Yes, MaerzMusik happens again in 2026. This time I bought tickets for three concerts, the one of them was the opening concert featuring Georg Friedrich Haas' 11000 Saiten. Given my sophisticated palette — which clearly leans toward the rigorous, the spectral, and the "living" — the opportunity to hear this monumental work is the contemporary music equivalent of a planetary alignment.
11000 Saiten is a monumental work written for 50 pianos and a chamber orchestra. The pianos are not tuned to the standard Western equal temperament; instead, each of the 50 pianos is tuned approximately two cents apart from the next. This creates a "super-instrument" capable of producing a seamless microtonal glissando across the entire stage. The 50 pianos are arranged in a circle which surrounds the audience, while the performers of the chamber orchestra are scattered in various points. Haas utilizes "spectral" techniques, focusing on the physics of sound and the harmonic series. The music often moves in massive, shimmering blocks of sound that feel like they are physically vibrating through the listener.
The scale and "shimmer" of this piece reminds me of a few pieces I have definitely enjoyed in the past. Of course, there is Georg Friedrich Haas' limited approximations, which is the most direct ancestor to 11000 Saiten, though the latter expands the scale from 6 pianos to 50. There is also Gérard Grisey's Vortex temporum – Like Grisey, Haas uses microtonal "rotations" to warp the audience's perception of time and pitch. And finally, there is Iannis Xenakis, in particular his works Jonchaies or Pléïades - 11000 Saiten shares that raw, overwhelming physical power and the use of massive "clouds" of sound.
So yes, I absolutely enjoyed this piece, and I am glad that I have had a chance to hear a live performance of it as part of this music festival.
