Klaus Lang’s composition emblemata sonantes. refers to Graz’s Eggenberg Palace and the year in which the construction of its Baroque sections began. The work is a journey through the palace’s days of peak splendor in 1625, translated into sound—the piece’s 365 measures correspond to the year’s 365 days. 

At the same time, the texts of the emblems from the palace’s iconographic program appear. Emblems are combinations of sayings and images that create moralizing messages. Those in Eggenberg were mainly written by Spanish diplomat Diego de Saavedra Fajardo. Properly understood, they encourage the wise exercise of power.

Lang uses historical instruments in meantone tuning with nineteen notes per octave, which are played by the Graz-based ensemble Ārt House 17. This new world of sound, between baroque and modern, adds a contemporary dimension to the rich artistic history of Eggenberg Palace.

Composition: Klaus Lang
Soprano, triangle: Peyee Chen
Violin and viola d'amore: Barbara Konrad
Bass viol and treble viol: Georg Kroneis
Recorders and harpsichord: Michael Hell
Organ: Klaus Lang
Historic counselling: Barbara Kaiser
Dramaturgy: Thomas Höft