Konzert op. 120
Siegfried Borris
(1966)
Siegfried Borris was one of the most widely known figures in the Berlin music scene during the 20th century. His extensive oeuvre encompasses a total of 140 works including symphonies, concertos, ballets, radio operas, cantatas, masses and chamber music.
Borris was born in Berlin in 1906, was briefly a student of Paul Hindemith and obtained his doctorate in musicology under the supervision of Arnold Schering. He became a lecturer at the Musikhochschule Berlin in 1929, but his career was interrupted during the rise of Hitler. Owing to his Jewish heritage he was dismissed in 1933, at the instigation of the Militant League for German Culture under the Nazi Regime. He then was forced to teach music privately. When the Nuremberg Laws of 1935 were enacted, he was also stripped of his German citizenship. He subsequently remained in statelessness until 1950.
In 1972 Borris was awarded the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany for his services and in 1981 he received the Ernst Reuter Badge of the City of Berlin. He died in Berlin on August 23, 1987.
Carina Raschèr & the Concerto
Sigurd & Carina Raschèr 1952
Sigurd & Carina Raschèr 1960’s
Throughout her career, Carina Raschèr participated in countless premiers (over 300) of works dedicated to her, the Raschèr Duo and the Raschèr Quartet by composers such as Paul Hindemith, Iannis Xenakis, Philip Glass, Warren Benson, Samuel Adler, Luciano Berio, Charles Wuorinen, Chen Yi, Steven Stucky, Sven David Sandström, Franco Donatoni and literally hundreds more. Carina was born in Cambridge, New York in 1945, started studying saxophone with her father Sigurd Raschèr at the age of five and gave her first concert the following year. In 1952, she began performing duo concerts with her father, for which many new works were composed. Her early years included performances in New York's Town Hall and Carnegie Hall, as well as concerts in Stockholm, Prague and many other European and American cities. Additionally, she was a featured soloist among others with both the Munich Philharmonic and Berlin Philharmonic Orchestras. As a founding member of the acclaimed Raschèr Saxophone Quartet, she performed in major venues around the world for 33 years until her retirement in 2002. She was also a founding member of the Raschèr Saxophone Orchestra.
In 1963 the American State Department chose Carina to represent the American youth as a soloist with the World Youth Symphony Orchestra at their meeting in Berlin. It was on this occasion that Professor Siegfried Borris and the soprano saxophonist met. Thereupon this concerto was composed and had its first performance during the Allgemeines Deutsches Musikfest on the 9th of July 1967 in Munich. Another important performance took place with the Berlin Philharmonic in 1971. For decades the work remained a forgotten manuscript until a few years ago it was finally published by Heinrichschofen & Noetzel and the solo part was edited and prepared by Carina Raschèr. The work is available for rental here and still awaits its American Premeire!
Members of the MANA Quartet and Carina Raschèr after a concert she organized for MANA in Lörrach, Germany. Summer 2019
While only a few tape cassettes exist of the Borris Konzert in Germany, one can get an idea of the composer’s sound world by listening to his Oktett op. 99 (1960). His style is very much reminiscent of the Berlin School of the inner war years.