Sven Helbig is a German composer whose career has marked a turning point in the integration of classical music and electronic experimentation. His innovative approach is distinguished by the ability to combine orchestral tradition with electronic sounds.
In 2017, he composed the work for choir and live electronics I Eat the Sun and Drink the Rain. The production was staged at Milton Court Hall in London, Elbphilharmonie in Hamburg, and Reina Sofia Hall in Madrid. In recent years, the artist has also taken on the role of director. He has directed music videos, theater performances, and multimedia theatrical events. For example, he produced the High-rise Symphony for the 800th anniversary of Dresden.
In the second part of the program, Sven Helbig and his choir will present I Eat the Sun and Drink the Rain, an interdisciplinary work consisting of ten pieces that explore the human condition through a sonic process that alternates between chamber choirs and electronic soundscapes, while a visual track continuously flows on a screen. The title itself is a poetic invitation to an encounter between light and rain, symbols of an existential experience that transcends rationality.
The work is a journey that leads from the Kyrie Eleison to the interpretation of Giacomo Leopardi’s L’Infinito, passing through various reflections on the human spirit. Each composition is designed to describe a moment of search and introspection, in which humans confront the vastness of the natural world, finding refuge in the mystery of life and the infinite that surrounds them. The choral dimension of Eat the Sun and Drink the Rain plays a central role, elevating the musical experience to a spiritual level, where the union of human voices and electronic sounds creates a meditative atmosphere. The fusion of natural sounds, human voices, and electronic landscapes creates a sonic map of that imaginary place where the meeting between humanity and nature symbolizes a possible purification.

I Eat The Sun and Drink the Rain
Cycle of ten pieces for choir and electronic music, melancholic, somber, nostalgic in character but full of lyricism and with flashes of a restrained and moving luminosity. The whole is staged with visual support from Icelandic video artist Máni M. Sigfússon.
For the German composer, it is “A poetic journey in search of what we call ‘human.’” Ten-stage itinerary plus a prelude and seven electronic interludes. In search of a personal interiority that attempts to decipher moods, timbres, landscapes, secret feelings and hidden desires, in a seesaw of symbolism, hermeticism and spiritualism. A search for meaning in the human that traverses interiority through poetic and religious language, with two culminating points in the Christian prayers of the Agnus Dei and the Kyrie Eleyson.
Abendglühen is the first text, a few verses but with dense, musical and layered imagery: the fading between day and night, the matter of color, perception that becomes openness, a terrace from which to look-or let see-desire.

Maibaum, a more extended poem, is characterized by a somber and solemn musicality, with strong contemplative and existential overtones. The lexicon is simple, but the tone is deep, almost sacred. The balance between solemnity, mystery and natural beauty is striking.

Ich geh´ dir nach. Still a short and delicate composition, full of suggestion and hermetic, sapiential progression. It portrays an aimless pursuit, but full of confidence and beauty. The tone is contemplative, almost forlorn – with natural imagery becoming a metaphor for deep feeling.

Gedenken is a poem that inhabits silence, the unspoken. It is dense with stillness, with an elegiac and intimate tone: the still landscape of remembrance, the word that does not really say, but “dresses” the silence. The scent of childhood, light and melancholy, crosses time like a hushed song among the branches of weeping willows.

Como il sol y bebo la lluvia. Very short poem in three simple lines, almost a haiku in which the subject stands in dynamic contemplation of creation and in a relationship of assimilation and union with the natural elements.

Agnus Dei. Invocation to Christ in the Holy Mass as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

A Tear musical moment without text to prepare for the most relevant poetic work of the entire cycle: The Infinite by Giacomo Leopardi.

The Infinite, written in 1819, is part of the collection Idylls, in loose endecasyllables in 15 lines. It is one of the highest expressions of Leopardi’s thought. Even in his cosmic pessimism, here Leopardi shows the possibility of momentary happiness: not real, but attainable through imagination. The final shipwreck is not destruction, but an ecstatic immersion in the mystery of existence.

Kyrie Eleison. A glimpse of Christ returns in an ancient Christian supplication that implores the mercy of Jesus called Lord.

Meernacht concludes the cycle a poem full of musicality and evocative imagery. It seems to float between dream and memory, between light and mystery, in a kind of universal song that touches time, meaning, and the invisible.

The first part of the concert, on the other hand, will be dedicated to a young promise of contemporary music, Mélia Roger, who will perform for the first time in Milan with a set that highlights her refined artistic sensitivity. Known primarily for her work in the field of sound installations and cinema design, Mélia Roger is one of the most interesting voices in the landscape of artists exploring the relationships between humans and non-humans through sound. Her research, in fact, focuses on the idea of listening as a deep sensory experience, capable of engaging empathetically and consciously those who approach it.
Her approach is mainly based on field recordings and active listening performances, tools that allow her to create complex and evocative soundscapes, inviting the listener to reflect on their relationship with the surrounding environment. Her work moves between minimalism and avant-garde, exploring how natural sounds and environmental elements can be transformed into true sonic languages.
About Latent home she said: “How do sound and listening shape our relationship to the sense of « home »? How does our memory get fragmented by the sonic traces? Latent home begins with my 10-year archive of field recordings gathered from my parents’ home in the village of Thel (France). Over the years, I learned to know this place through my ears, listening to the silent presence of surrounding forest monocultures, and the shy voices of wildlife. Today, it is a place I can no longer visit. But from these digital memories, from the robin’s call to my piano’s strings and the voice of my mother, I tried to train with a deep neural network to generate new sounds from this place and imagine its speculative echos without us. But can we really clone the sound of the robin? This piece moves through the latent spaces of an artificial network, where past and future fold into each other—a collaborative journey between memory and machine, intimacy and artifact—giving rise to new post-natural sonic worlds..”
Additionally, Roger’s research involves a strong participatory component, leading her to work on shared projects, where sound becomes a tool for creating community and exchanging experiences. Her music stands as a testament to her belief that active listening and collective participation are fundamental to a deeper understanding of environmental, social, and emotional dynamics. With her work, Roger aims not only to engage the audience in her sonic exploration but also to stimulate an ongoing dialogue between nature, humanity, and art.
The meeting between the poetic worlds of Sven Helbig and Mélia Roger, though distant in style and approach, finds a synthesis in this concert, which invites reflection on our relationship with the environment, spirituality, and humanity.