Musica Transalpina

“Musica Transalpina”, a chamber music programme with staged elements created by violinist and artist Matthias Klenota, performed by his ensemble histoirefuture, has existed for a few years now, and we have performed it in several places. It is based on the repertoire of 17th century composers who crossed the Alps in order to reach a new place to work: musicians from North-Europe who visited Italy, Italians starting a career in Austria or even making their way to England, and many more. The programme also includes texts of contemporary travellers who describe the wilderness, the cold, the hunger, wild animals, death, and other challenges they had to face during such a journey. In today’s world, where hiking is a relaxing hobby, we tend to forget how big of an obstacle the Alps were before roads and railways were constructed.
A typical part of histoirefuture productions are the improvisation elements throughout the performance, as well as the use of the complete room. As every room is different, each performance is adapted to the space. In some versions of the programme the group is joined by a professional actor who embodies the travellers and reads their texts.

On the 3rd of May, 2025, we played the programme for the Freunde Alter Musik Basel, a renowned early music concert series. As most of the previous performances took place in museums, abbeys or other non-conventional concert spaces, it felt unusual to present such a programme in the small hall of Basel’s Stadtcasino.

For more informationa about the ensemble, the production and future performances, please visit the website.