Info text: YEARNING FOR SILENCE 33 approaches to silence The idea for the 33 piano pieces presented here arose from a composition commission for the international composition project “250 Piano Pieces for Beethoven”, initiated by the Bonn pianist Susanne Kessel, on the occasion of the 250th birthday of Ludwig van Beethoven in 2020. 250 composers were asked to […]

Program: Peter Ruzicka (*1948) [01] LOOP (2017) 16:13 for trumpet (flugelhorn), piccolo trumpet and orchestra commissioned by musica viva / Bayerischer Rundfunk premiere [02] … ISLANDS, RANDLOS… (1994/1995) 23 :48 for violin, chamber choir and orchestra FIVE BRUCHSTÜCKE (1984–1987) 12:48 For orchestra [03] No. 1 02:18 [04] No. 2 02:00 [05] No. 3 03:18 [06] No. 4 03:16 [07] No. 5 01:56 ESCAPE (2014) 17:18 Six passages for orchestra [08] Passage 1 02:26 [09] Passage 2 02:44 [10] Passage 3 03:30 [11] Passage 4 03:34 [12] Passage 5 02:18 […]

Program: Harrison Birtwistle (*1934) [01] Responses. Sweet Disorder(2014) for piano and orchestra 29:16 Commissioned by musica viva of the Bavarian Radio, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Casa de Música Porto and Boston Symphony Orchestra supported by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation and the PRS for Music Foundation World premiere [02] Gawain's Journey (1991) for orchestra 26:56 Total playing time: 56:23 Pierre-Laurent Aimard, piano Symphony Orchestra of the […]

Info text: VOCAL MUSIC The voice is the most difficult “musical instrument”. On the one hand, it is completely natural because every person has it and can sing and speak. It is part of the body and does not externalize sound production to an external instrument. On the other hand, it is the most complicated thing because its versatility is limitless. For composing for voice this means […]

Info text: MUSIC IN THE FIELD OF PHYSIS AND OU-TOPOS THE VISIONARY AS A COMPOSITIONAL PRINCIPLE Christian Morgenstern describes the “Gallows Brother” as an “enviable intermediate stage between man and the universe”. Michael Quell's music calls us to this non-place between worlds. In φαντασία – let the molecules race (2016) for soprano and speaking pianist, for example, he sets one of the gallows songs to music with the call: […]

Info text: « L'AMOUR EST UNE DUPERIE – L'AMOUR N'EST PAS UNE SYMBIOSE » Chamber opera or (scenic or concert) chamber opera noratorio Homage to Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir on forbidden texts (and replaced by their own sound poetry). Jean-Paul Sartre and permitted texts by Simone de Beauvoir. The ensemble versions (soprano, baritone, flute, clarinet, cello and piano) Prologue […]

Info text: WHY A BRASS QUINTET? »One often associates a brass quintet with a musical troupe of jokers who perhaps wear white sneakers and jump around on stage in a choreographically organized manner. This is certainly something nice and has its justification. But that’s not what the ensemble stands for,” says Matthew Sadler, the London trumpeter of Ensemble Focus, which […]

Info text: PETER IVAN EDWARDS · IONOBIA In ionobia I continue the research into force dynamics in music, for which the piece fleepercellimano is a kind of preliminary study. Force dynamics is originally a linguistic term. It states that there are relationships between the components of a sentence based on influence. For example, a sentence like "The wind pushed the ball [...]

Info text: YOICHI SUGIYAMA · CHILDREN'S SCENES The term “portrait CD,” which is often wrongly used, seems exceptionally well suited to describe this collection of four works by Yoichi Sugiyama. It is not difficult to find connections between these works and central biographical events that still leave their mark on his music today. For the first of these events we have to […]

Info text: MAJA MIJATOVIĆ - TO CATCH A RUNNING POET Often you start something without really knowing where the journey will take you - whether an idea you have just suspected is viable and fruitful, whether you are at the right point to carry it out, and what will happen on this path into the unknown. Not uncommon but […]

Info text: MUSIC FOR SPECIAL ORGANS There has always been a lot of experimentation in organ building. On the one hand, this is because there are a variety of ways in which the sounds can be generated and combined; On the other hand, it is also due to the uniqueness of each instrument, which means that the organ builder always becomes an inventor. The history of the […]

Info text: QUIET STONE · MUSIC BY LAURIE ALTMAN Every new musical work strives for a form of precision; perhaps more clearly stated, a precision of sensation and substance. In the context of such a journey of discovery, an idiosyncratic and at the same time careful choice of both instrumental coloring and a musical and stylistic expression arises, which is necessary for precisely [...]