Symphony of 100 Metronomes

About the production

The metronome is, in fact, an aid to musical performance: its ticking sets a fixed tempo for the music and keeps it in check. In György Ligeti’s »Poème Symphonique«, composed in 1962 and one of the most extraordinary pieces of music ever written, the metronome itself becomes an instrument, indeed a musician: Wound identically and set to different tempos, 100 metronomes are started simultaneously; they tick through and with one another and gradually cease to beat until a single metronome remains – and falls silent.

This purely percussive, mechanical music forms a tapestry of sound that is constantly changing. It unfolds a humorous yet thoroughly hypnotic effect and encourages reflection on processes of change of all kinds.

The Lausitz Festival is staging Ligeti’s classic at three different venues across the region, inviting audiences in a variety of settings to this unique and intense musical experience for the relatively short duration of a good quarter of an hour.

A concert to mark the opening of the exhibition »super_grau«. The exhibition opens at 7 p.m.

Entry is free.

Our tip:

The exhibition »super_grau« celebrates 10 years of Kunstraum Braugasse. Featuring 28 artistic works from East and West, South and North, the exhibition, initiated by painter and curator Michael Kruscha, explores this often overlooked, even reviled, colour spectrum.

Duration: 30 August to 30 October 2026

Here: Hoyerswerda Art Space Braugasse / City Museum in the Castle