Surrogate Cities
1994
for big orchestra, voice, mezzosopran and sampler
Premiere: Frankfurt 1994 (performed by Junge Deutsche Philharmonie); 90'
Publisher: G.RICORDI & Co GmbH, Munich
1. D&C, 11'
2. Samplersuite (Sarabande/N-touch, Allemande/Les Ruines, Courante, Gigue, Bourree/Wildcard, Passacaglia, Chaconne/Kantorloops, Menuett/L'ingenieur, Gavotte/N-touch remix, Air), 30'
3. Die Faust im Wappen, 7'
4. Suite für Sampler und Orchester
5. 3 Horatiersongs (based upon texts by Heiner Mueller), 15' 6.
6. Die Staedte und die Toten 4 -Argia, 4'
7. Surrogate (text: Hugo Hamilton), 7'
8. In the Country of Last Things (text: Paul Auster), 5'
""Surrogate Cities" is an attempt to approach the phenomenon of the city from various sides, to tell stories of cities, expose oneself to them, observe them; it is material about metropolises that has accumulated over the course of time. The work was inspired partly by texts, but also by drawings, structures and sounds, the juxtaposition of orchestra and sampler playing a considerable role because of the latter's ability to store sounds and noises ordinarily alien to orchestral sonorities. The associations l have are with a realistic, certainly contradictory, but ultimately positive image of the modern city. My intention was not to produce a close-up but to try and read the city as a text and then to translate something of its mechanics and architecture into music. ...When it comes to the power dynamics of the city, the individual is always the more vulnerable party. Art rebels against this overpowering structure by strengthening the subjective element. Music, too, is composed from a highly subjective perspective, for composers usually justify what they write by saying that they "need to get it out of their system ". That is only partly true for me. l try to gain a bit more distance: l construct something that confronts the audience, and the audience reacts to it, discovering in the music a space they can enter complete with their associations and ideas." Heiner Goebbels
Texts
Successo a Ravenna per Surrogate cities di Heiner Goebbels (Review, it)
Andrea Molino ha diretto L'Orchestra Giovanile Cherubini
8 June 2025, corriere alpi
’Surrogate Cities’ all’Alighieri. La città è una giungla di cemento (Portrait, it)
Il ritratto dell’universo urbano di Heiner Goebbels riletto oscillando tra jazz, pop, campionamenti ed elettronica. .
7 June 2025, Cronaca
Untitled (Interview, it)
6 June 2025, Piero Di Domenico, Corriere di Bologna
Tanz der Stadtseele (Review, de)
28 April 2024, Birgut Koelgen, D'dorf aktuell
Surrogate Cities: Heiner Goebbels erige “las ciudades sustitutas” que convierten a los hombres en esclavos de la modernidad (Article, es)
La obra para voz y orquesta del compositor alemán podrá verse mañana en el ciclo Contemporáneo, a cargo de la Orquesta Académica del Teatro Colón dirigida por Baldur Brönnimann
13 April 2023, Pablo Gianera, La Nacion
Llega el innovador Heiner Goebbels al Colón: "No puedo hacer una diferencia entre el ruido y la música" (Interview, es)
Recién llegado a Buenos Aires, el prestigioso compositor alemán presentará extractos de su célebre obra Surrogate Cities. Estrena el viernes 14.
13 April 2023, Laura Novoa, Clarin
Casa da Música: ciudad global (Review, es)
PORTO
16 March 2020, Paco Yáñez, MundoClasico.com
Composiciones sonoras de Heiner Goebbels, ilustración en vivo y más planes para la semana (Review, es)
Entre otras, el compositor alemán presenta en el Auditorio León de Greiff 'Surrogate cities',
16 September 2019, Arcadia
Der Groove von Münchenstein (Review, de)
Die Basel Sinfonietta schickt ihr Publikum mit dem mitreissenden Orchesterzyklus «Surrogate Cities» in den Sommer.
25 June 2019, Simon Bordier, Basler Zeitung
Riesenapplaus für Gesamtkunstwerk "Surrogate Cities" in Gießener Osthalle (Review, de)
Die Osthalle praktisch ausverkauft, der Ablauf fehlerfrei, der Schlussapplaus richtig stark und lang: Die szenische Aufführung der Orchestersuite "Surrogate Cities" war ein voller Erfolg - und ein markanter kultureller Akzent.
24 September 2018, Heiner Schultz
Eine Runde um den Block (Review, de)
Die Stadt mal anders: 300 Schüler treffen auf 82 Musiker. Das Stück »Surrogate Cities« von Heiner Goebbels wird in der Osthalle bejubelt.
23 September 2018, Manfred Merz, Gießener Allgemeine
Spektakulärer Abschluss: Das Urbane an sich (Review, de)
22 May 2017, Jörg Worat, www.kreiszeitung.de
Schlusskonzert mit Eisenbahn (Review, de)
22 May 2017, Agnes Bührig, NDR.de
Superkonzert im VW-Werk (Review, de)
Tolles Finale: Kunstfestspiele bringen "SUrrogate Cities" unter Ingo Metzmacher nach Stöcken.
21 May 2017, Henning Queren, Hannoversche Neue Presse
Ein Angebot, akustische, urbane Erfahrungen zu machen (Interview, de)
1 March 2017, Hans-Jürgen Linke, Junge Deutsche Philharmonie
Die Kultur umarmt die Großstadt (Portrait, de)
Die Ruhrtriennale überzeugte im letzten Jahr unter Intendant Heiner Goebbels
29 September 2014, dpa, Nürnberger Nachrichten
Wie die Metropole tanzt (Review, de)
Mathilde Monniers Choreografie Surrogate Cities im Landschaftspark Duisburg
22 September 2014, Anke Demirsov, Westfälischer Anzeiger
Eine Region mit 130 Gesichtern (Review, de)
"Surrogate Cities" von Heiner Goebbels löst bei der Triennale Begeisterungsstürme aus
22 September 2014, Bernd Aulich, Recklinghäuser Zeitung
Heiner Goebbels Abschiedsgeschenk (Review, de)
Ruhrtriennale: 130 Akteure und die Bochumer Symphoniker entwerfen ein choreografisches Städtebild
22 September 2014, Ulrich Fischer, Neue Westfälische
Heiner Goebbels verbeugt sich vor dem Revier (Review, de)
21 September 2014, Pedro Obiera, WAZ
Kinetische Unschärfen (Review, de)
Aus einer Komposition Heiner Goebbels’ macht die Choreographin Mathilde Monnier in Duisburg ein Stück für Laien: „Surrogate Cities Ruhr“.
21 September 2014, Hans-Christoph Zimmermann, taz
Notes from Surrogate Cities: from novel to opera (Review, en)
My novel Surrogate Cities has been incorporated into an opera –
a soundscape of urban life – by Heiner Goebbels, with intriguing
results
5 March 2012, HUGO HAMILTON, The Guardian
Maverick Heiner Goebbels (Review, en)
Music we've been missing (Part 6)
18 August 2009, Tim Smith, The Baltimore Sun
Innovationspotentiale (Article, de)
Heiner Goebbels "Surrogate Cities" bei Zukunft@BPhil
2009, Michael Custodis
And the Beat goes on: Goebbels, Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic (Review, en)
Philharmonic Hall Berlin, Germany; Sept. 23, 2003
29 September 2003, Nancy Chapple, www.classicstoday.com
Zwischen Forte und Fortissimo (Review, de)
25 September 2003, Christiane Peitz, Der Tagesspiegel
"Surrogate Cities" - Klang-Orgie in der Philharmonie (Review, de)
25 September 2003, Susanne Maier, Berliner Zeitung
Surrogate Cities (Review, es)
24 September 2003
Von der Freiheit des Denkens (Review, de)
Mit "Surrogate Cities" von Heiner Goebbels fand das Lucerne Festival seinen Abschluß.
22 September 2003, Patrick Müller, Tages-Anzeiger
Am Strand, in der Stadt (Review, de)
Abschluss mit den Berlinern und Simon Rattle
22 September 2003, Peter Hagemann, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
This is Not Your Mother's Berlin Philharmonic (Review, en)
Simon Rattle and his band close the 2003 Lucerne Festival with Heiner Goebbels's hyper-ambitious Surrogate Cities.
20 September 2003, David Patrick Stearns, andante
The symphony in the present tense (Review, en)
Heiner Goebbels: Surrogate Cities The Queensland Orchestra and Soloists
July 2003, Chris Reid, Realtime
Imagining the city: re-imagining the orchestra (Review, en)
Heiner Goebbels: Surrogate Cities
July 2003, Robert Davidson, Realtime
The City of Cities (Review, en)
Heiner Goebbels: Surrogate Cities
July 2003, Keith Gallasch, Realtime
Untitled (Review, en)
21 July 2003, James Harper, Courier Mail
JOURNEYS INTO A STATE OF SOUND (Review, en)
Back in Brisbane, Surrogate Cities by the German composer
Heiner Goebbels received its Australian premiere at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre.
21 July 2003, Scott Bevan, Sydney Morning Herald
Premieres of the Year (Review, en)
21 December 2002, Susan Nickalls, Classical Music
Klangräume, Tagträume (Review, de)
Heiner Goebbels in Freiburg und Genf
18 October 2002, Peter Hagmann, Neue Zürcher Zeitung
Symphonie(konzert) der Großstadt (Review, de)
Umjubelter Saisonstart am Theater Freiburg mit Heiner Goebbels' Musiktheaterstück "Surrogate Cities"
18 October 2002, Alexander Dick, Berliner Zeitung
City samples magnificent sound portrait (Review, en)
2 September 2002, Thom Dibdin, The Scotsman
Ein Aufbruch in die Gegenwart (Review, de)
Grandioses Sinfonie-Konzert von Heiner Goebbels
27 September 2001, Andreas Hillger, Mitteldeutsche Zeitung
Was röhrt und plärrt, brüllt und grunzt (Review, de)
Wie es über und unter dem Pflasterstrand klingt: "Surrogate Cities" von Heiner Goebbels als multimediales Bildermusiktheater in Nürnberg
20 July 2000, Frieder Reininghaus, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Goebbels: Surrogate Cities (Review, en)
6 June 2000, NY Times
Saluting Flexibility, If Not the Flag; at Spoleto (Review, en)
6 June 2000, James R. Oestreich, NY Times
Material (en)
1 January 2000
Material (de)
1 January 2000
Die Großstadt - ein Sound-Moloch (Review, de)
Prinzregententheater: Heiner Goebbels' "Surrogate Cities"
16./17.11.1996, Roland Spiegel, Abendzeitung München
Schöne Grüße aus dem Großraumbüro (Review, de)
"Surrogate Cities" von Heiner Goebbels bei den Frankfurt Festen uraufgeführt
2 September 1994, Peter Kemper, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
Past Dates
June 2025
Teatro Alighieri, Ravenna (Italy)
April 2024
Deutsche Oper am Rhein, Düsseldorf (Germany)
March 2020
Casa da Música Porto, Porto (Portugal)
November 2019
OsnabrückHalle, Osnabrück (Germany)
Theater Münster, Münster (Germany)
October 2019
Theater Münster, Münster (Germany)
September 2019
Auditorio León de Greiff, Bogota (Colombia)
June 2019
Freilagerplatz, Basel (Switzerland)
April 2019
In the Spotlight:Heiner Goebbels
Taper Auditorium, Seattle (USA)
Music Biennale Zagreb
Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, Zagreb (Croatia)
September 2018
Osthalle, Gießen (Germany)
August 2018
TSO Staged Concert
Taipeh (Taiwan)
December 2017
Oper Wuppertal, Wuppertal (Germany)
October 2017
Oper Wuppertal, Wuppertal (Germany)
September 2017
Oper Wuppertal, Wuppertal (Germany)
May 2017
Kunstfestspiele Herrenhausen
Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge Hannover Stöcken, Hannover (Germany)
September 2014
Ruhrtriennale
Kraftzentrale, Duisburg (Germany)
February 2013
Stavanger Concert Hall, Stavanger (Norway)
March 2012
Southbank Centre, London (Great Britain)
May 2008
MADE Festival, Umea (Sweden)
March 2008
GOEBBELS FESTIVAL 2008
Koningklijk Conservatorium, Den Haag (Netherlands)
February 2008
Arena Treptow, Berlin (Germany)
October 2007
Congress Hall, Vilnius (Lithuania)
December 2006
Nationaltheater, Munich (Germany)
November 2006
Nationaltheater, Munich (Germany)
October 2006
Goebbels/Gubaidulina Festival
Oosterport, Groningen (Netherlands)
April 2006
Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York (USA)
Nationaltheater, Munich (Germany)
February 2006
New Music Festival, Stockholm (Sweden)
December 2005
Festival "Die 3. Art", Wuppertal (Germany)
November 2005
Paulskirche, Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
Radio Genève, Studio Ernest Ansermet, Genève (Switzerland)
October 2005
Kiasma Teatteri, Helsinki (Finland)
Teatro Comunale Modena, Modena (Italy)
September 2005
Venice Biennale
La Fenice, Venice (Italy)
May 2005
Odense Concert Hall, Odense (Denmark)
Saal des Ensemble Modern, Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
Dresdner Musikfestspiele, Dresden (Germany)
Musikhuset, Aarhus (Denmark)
April 2005
Hochschule für Musik Würzburg, Würzburg (Germany)
September 2003
Berlin Philharmony, Berlin (Germany)
Lucerne Festival im Festspielhaus, Lucerne (Switzerland)
July 2003
Queensland Biennial Music Festival, Brisbane (Australia)
December 2002
Städtische Bühnen, Freiburg (Germany)
November 2002
Städtische Bühnen, Freiburg (Germany)
October 2002
Städtische Bühnen, Freiburg (Germany)
September 2001
Anhaltisches Theater, Dessau (Germany)
June 2000
Tafelhalle, Nuernberg (Germany)
Premiere
Spoleto Festival, South Carolina, Charleston (USA)
September 1999
Jahrhunderthalle, Bochum (Germany)
February 1999
Hof (Germany)
November 1996
Prinzregententheater, Munich (Germany)
October 1994
Theatre Champs Elysée, Paris (France)
September 1994
Konzertsaal der HdK, Berlin (Germany)
Philharmonie, Köln (Germany)
August 1994
Alte Oper, Frankfurt am Main (Germany)
Related Works
D & C
1994
Composition for Orchestra
Samplersuite
Ensemble version, 1994
Composition for Ensemble
Surrogate
Ensemble version, 1994
Composition for Ensemble
In the Country of last things
Ensemble version, 1994
Composition for Ensemble
The Horatian - Three Songs
with words by Heiner Müller, 1994
Composition for Orchestra
Argia
Die Städte und die Toten 4, 1994
Composition for Orchestra
Suite for Sampler and Orchestra
from Surrogate Cities, 1994
Composition for Orchestra
Surrogate
with words by Hugo Hamilton, 1994
Composition for Orchestra
Die Faust im Wappen
1994
Composition for Orchestra
In the Country of Last Things
with words by Paul Auster, 1994
Composition for Orchestra
The Horatian - Three Songs
Ensemble version, 1999
Composition for Ensemble
Surrogate Cities
Heiner Goebbels/Junge Deutsche Philharmonie, 2000
CD
Surrogate Cities Venezia
2005
Music Theatre
The Italian Concerto
Heiner Goebbels, 2009
CD