This rap, while giving a look into the reality of an urban environment and its subcultural dialect, grows with the grandeur that comes with a title referencing the eternal 'Lieder ohne Worte' by Mendelssohn.

In addition, one of the meanings of the verb to rap, namely to criticise, translates into this piece, a rap without words where Víctor Díaz Guerra (to whom it is dedicated) and his duo partner (pianist José María Villegas) take turns at the leading role in a truly dialogue-like manner, leaving no room for the listener to even miss the graffiti.

Symphonic cycle consisting of three symphonies and a finale with a pastoral character and dedicated to nature, more precisely:

First Symphony "And let there be light" I Let there be light II Time is a minimal space III Delicate reflections around a point

Second Symphony "A minimal space" I Subtle hymn II Exultavit spiritus meus

Third Symphony "It is perfection" I Illuminated perfection II Towards an infinitely small space Nothing is necessary to move III Static harmony of time

Finale "Scherzo"

Commissioned by Fondazione Pergolesi Spontini, Jesi (Italy) and premièred at Teatro Pergolesi. Cops is a 1922 American silent comedy written and directed by Edward F. Cline and Buster Keaton.

The soundtrack is a continuous sound commentary on the film.

Das Tiefe Lied / The Deep Song, op 23, is a song cycle based on eleven poems by Georg Trakl for low voice. This version is in C for bass or bass-baritone. The special order of the songs, which merge into one another, creates a little story. I Begegnung, II Vollendung, III Wunderlicher Frühling, IV Schweigen, V Einer Vorübergehenden, VI An Mauern hin, VII Beim jungen Wein, VIII An die Nacht, IX Ballade, X Gesang zur Nacht, XI Das Tiefe Lied. Total duration approx. 20 minutes. The songs can also be performed individually.

TEXTE

Georg Trakl

(3.02.1887 – 3.11.1914)

Begegnung

Am Weg der Fremde - wir sehn uns an

Und unsre müden Augen fragen:

Was hast du mit deinem Leben getan?

Sei still! sei still! Laß alle Klagen!

Es wird schon kühler um uns her,

Die Wolken zerfließen in den Weiten.

Mich deucht, wir fragen nicht lange mehr,

Und niemand wird uns zur Nacht geleiten.

Vollendung

Mein Bruder, laß uns stiller gehn!

Die Straßen dunkeln sachte ein.

Von ferne schimmern wohl Fahnen und wenn,

Doch Bruder, laß uns einsam sein -

Und uns zum Himmel schauend ruhn,

Im Herzen sanft und ganz bereit,

Und selbstvergessen einstigem Tun.

Mein Bruder, sieh, die Welt ist weit!

Da draußen spielt mit Wolken der Wind,

Die kommen wie wir, von. irgendwo.

Laß sein uns, wie die Blumen sind,

So arm, mein Bruder, so schön und froh!

Wunderlicher Frühling

Wohl um die tiefe Mittagszeit,

Lag ich auf einem alten Stein,

Vor mir in wunderlichem Kleid

Standen drei Engel im Sonnenschein.

O ahnungsvolles Frühlingsjahr!

Im Acker schmolz der letzte Schnee,

Und zitternd hing der Birke Haar

In den kalten, klaren See.

Vom Himmel wehte ein blaues Band,

Und schön floß eine Wolke herein,

Der lag ich träumend zugewandt -

Die Engel knieten im Sonnenschein.

Laut sang ein Vogel Wundermär,

Und könnt mit einmal ihn verstehn:

Eh' noch gestillt dein erst' Begehr,

Mußt sterben gehn, mußt sterben gehn.

Schweigen

Über den Wäldern schimmert bleich

Der Mond, der uns träumen macht,

Die Weide am dunklen Teich

Weint lautlos in die Nacht.

Ein Herz erlischt - und sacht

Die Nebel fluten und steigen -

Schweigen, Schweigen!

Einer Vorübergehenden

Ich hab' einst im Vorübergehn

Ein schmerzenreiches Antlitz gesehn,

Das schien mir tief und heimlich verwandt,

So gottgesandt -

Und ging vorüber und entschwand.

Ich hab' einst im Vorübergehn

Ein schmerzenreiches Antlitz gesehn,

Das hat mich gebannt,

Als hätte ich eine wiedererkannt,

Die träumend ich einst Geliebte genannt

In einem Dasein, das längst entschwand.

An Mauern hin

Es geht ein alter Weg entlang

An wilden Gärten und einsamen Mauern.

Tausendjährige Eiben schauern

Im steigenden fallenden Windgesang.

Die Falter tanzen, als stürben sie bald,

Mein Blick trinkt weinend die Schatten und Lichter.

Ferne schweben Frauengesichter

Geisterhaft ins Blau gemalt.

Ein Lächeln zittert im Sonnenschein,

Indes ich langsam weiterschreite;

Unendliche Liebe gibt das Geleite.

Leise ergrünt das harte Gestein.

Beim jungen Wein

Sonne purpurn untergeht,

Schwalbe ist schon fern gezogen.

Unter abendlichen Bogen

Junger Wein die Runde geht;

Kind dein wildes Lachen.

Schmerz, darin die Welt vergeht.

Bleib der Augenblick gewogen,

Da im Abend hölzner Bogen

Junger Wein die Runde geht;

Kind dein wildes Lachen.

Flackerstern ans Fenster weht,

Kommt die schwarze Nacht gezogen,

Wenn im Schatten dunkler Bogen

Junger Wein die Runde geht;

Kind dein wildes Lachen.

An die Nacht

Nachtergebung

Nymphe zieh mich in dein Dunkel;

Aster friert und schwankt am Zaun,

Schwermut blüht im Schoß der Fraun,

Blutend Kreuz im Sterngefunkel.

Purpurn brachen Mund und Lüge

In verfallner Kammer kühl;

Scheint noch Lachen, golden Spiel;

Einer Glocke letzte Züge.

Blaue Wolke! Schwärzlich fallen

Faule Früchte dumpf vom Baum

Und zum Grabe wird der Raum

Und zum Traum trüb' Erdenwallen.

Ballade I

Ein Narre sc+hrieb drei Zeichen in Sand,

Eine bleiche Magd da vor ihm stand.

Laut sang, o sang das Meer.

Sie hielt einen Becher in der Hand,

Der schimmerte bis auf zum Rand,

Wie Blut so rot und schwer.

Kein Wort ward gesprochen - die Sonne schwand,

Da nahm der Narre aus ihrer Hand

Den Becher und trank ihn leer.

Da löschte sein Licht in ihrer Hand,

Der Wind verwehte drei Zeichen im Sand -

Laut sang, o sang das Meer.

Gesang zur Nacht

Vom Schatten eines Hauchs geboren

Wir wandeln in Verlassenheit

Und sind im Ewigen verloren,

Gleich Opfern unwissend, wozu sie geweiht.

Gleich Bettlern ist uns nichts zu eigen,

Uns Toren am verschloßnen Tor.

Wie Blinde lauschen wir ins Schweigen,

In dem sich unser Flüstern verlor.

Wir sind die Wandrer ohne Ziele,

Die Wolken, die der Wind verweht,

Die Blumen, zitternd in Todeskühle,

Die warten, bis man sie niedermäht…

Das tiefe Lied

Aus tiefer Nacht ward ich befreit.

Meine Seele staunt in Unsterblichkeit,

Meine Seele lauscht über Raum und Zeit

Der Melodie der Ewigkeit!

Nicht Tag und Lust, nicht Nacht und Leid

Ist Melodie der Ewigkeit,

Und seit ich erlauscht die Ewigkeit,

Fühl nimmermehr ich Lust und Leid!

***

In the audio and video recording, Apostol Milenkov sings accompanied by Ruzha Semova.

I wrote those 24 preludes to make "instant studies" on different genders of movie music, from romantic to action, horror to science-fiction, and some are special hommages to great movie composer such as Enio Moriccone or Georges Delerue. They don't intend to imitate, rather to evoke and remain independent piano pieces the can be performed together or separately.

From Haydn 45 Symphonie ; under category Strong Moments.

Composition focused on the theme of hope. A composition of great emotional effect.

This oboe concerto was composed in 2024. It is in 2 movements. It partly is a modern view of the English pastoral tradition, but also has propulsive elements that may be viewed as more 'urban'. The oboe often has great independence to the string parts.

An initial version of this quartet was completed in October 1976, when the composer was based in England (at Oxford). The work was revised in 1992-3 (in San Francisco, California), and again, to a limited extent in Philadelphia (Pennsylvania) in 2020 and 2022. Flattening of the 7th degree of the scale (leading note) is the origin of the "Mixolydian" title for this work, of which the overarching tonality of the two outer movements is B major.

The quartet begins with a slow introduction in no consistent key, which leads to a moderately paced sonata-form movement with two thematic ideas. Between the end of the exposition (a section that is not repeated) and the start of the development, the introduction is recalled. In the development, the two thematic ideas from the exposition are explored in the reverse order from that of their original presentation. A sudden shift from E flat minor harmony to B major harmony signals the start of the recapitulation, which eventually leads to another reminiscence of the introduction and three bars of silence, followed by a relatively short, fairly slow, second movement. The prevailing dynamic level in this movement is low although, roughly half-way through, there is a brief 'panic attack', involving a crescendo and diminished seventh harmonies. Later, there is another transient upsurge in the dynamic level, after which the movement comes to rest on an F sharp major chord with the mediant (A sharp) in the bass. This A sharp is then 'reinterpreted' as B flat, for the start of the scherzo-like third movement, whose principal key is B flat major.

This third movement comprises two moderately paced outer sections enclosing a faster central portion. Soon after the start of the first section, a sudden key change from E flat major to C major, along with an increased dynamic level and use of the open C strings of the viola and 'cello, amplifies the energy. The central section of this movement is the fastest part of the work up to this point, and includes bagpipe-like drones in the lower strings, oscillating between key centres a whole tone apart (B flat and A flat). The third movement leads without a break into the finale, which begins with another revisitation of the slow introduction - more ominously than previously, as a result of tremolo, playing at the bridge (sul ponticello), rising and falling dynamic levels, sudden silences, and two loud chords shortly before the start of the main part of the finale - a sonata-form structure with optional repeats of the exposition and of the development-cum-recapitulation.

The initial theme of the main part of the finale (after the slow introduction) is a speeded up, and rhythmically altered, version of the thematic idea that opens the second movement. Particularly in the development section of the finale, considerable tension is accumulated. Factors that contribute to this situation include syncopation and counterpoint - for example, quasi-canonic writing in which pairs of instruments (first violin and viola; second violin and 'cello) present different bars of a two-bar melodic 'cell' simultaneously, just before the start of the recapitulation, into which the development section drives forward relentlessly. The energy level is not lowered appreciably in a coda that concludes the last movement, during the final bars of which the underlying rhythmic pulse (3/4) is altered to 2/4, when the work reaches landfall in B major.

Tempi in the four movements of the work are as follows:

I. Adagio e Mesto

Moderato

II. Adagio

III. Un poco Allegro

Più Allegro

Un poco Allegro

IV. Adagio e Mesto

Allegretto energico

This quartet was read (played privately) by the Philadelphia-based Wister Quartet in December 2017. The autograph score of the 1992-3 version of the work, from which the published (definitive) version shows some relatively small differences, was donated to the Cambridge University Library in 2016; it is bound together with the 1993-4 autograph score of the same composer's Quartet in F minor. The first public performance (world première) of the Mixolydian Quartet was given by the Wister Quartet at the Academy of Vocal Arts in Philadelphia, on the 4th of December 2023. During the rehearsals leading up to that performance, some very minor editing of the work was done; the resulting changes are reflected in the published score and parts, which now bear the date 2023.

This score has received a Special Mention at the 3rd. International Composition Competition "Maurice Ravel" 2018.

The inspirations for this composition were prehistoric cave paintings. In the spaces of rocks and caves,

stories about people from the ancient past are captured in amazing paintings. All you have to do is watch.

Watch and listen to the wonderful and strange echoes of a time when these caves were the temples of men.

Another stimulus is the poem by Vl. Holan " Paleostom bezjazy“. It is an onomatopoeic prayer of a stone.

An echo of human lives through the perspective of boulders, rocks, stones and caves. From the time when men and stones listened to each other.

This string quartet piece was inspired by the beautiful mountains of Taiwan. The three sections of the music describe the Jade Mountain, the Seven Star Mountain, and the Ali Mountain, respectively. The first section presents various voices rhythmically syncopated into stacked layers, like the emerging of a prominent monument from surrounding mountains. The second section uses a fine-grained rhythmic structure. Plucking melodies are scattered in all parts contrasted by sustaining overtones, expressing an intricate landscape of volcanic terrains and hot springs. The third section depicts the natural wonders including the sea of clouds, the sunrise, the sunset, and the magnificent trees of the Ali Mountain. An intertwined structure is woven through convoluted layers. Yet its regularity can be heard, just like the fascinating sounds of winding streams through weathered rock formations. 

Abyss is at the origin a subtle marriage of piano and electronics, this unique work oscillates between ambient and neoclassical. The fluid melodic pattern and the hypnotic and soaring counternote invite deep introspection. The music, imbued with melancholy, creates an intimate space conducive to meditation and contemplation. Immerse yourself in this sound universe where each note is an invitation to an inner journey.

This is the score for solo piano.

The Impromptu No. 8 was written in 1976 and is taken from the album '10 Impromptus for Piano', which is one of the composer's early works.

The A B A form often used for impromptus is also used here. The Allegro begins carefree and cheeky with fast, descending triplet figures. Modern harmony and frequently changing rhythms characterise the seemingly improvised beginning of the work.

A calm and lyrical second section follows as a contrast. Small motifs made up of quaver notes intertwine, are repeated in sequences and playfully passed from right to left hand.

The theme of the first part returns abruptly. The notes rush like a waterfall towards the final conclusion of the short but energetic work.

These five modern solo pieces for piano combine influences from romanticism, Latin, contemporary jazz and fusion into an own distinctive style. They vary in the musical mood and the technical challenges, and are annotated with economical fingerings. Chord symbols are provided for improvisation. Recordings are available on NEUKLANG NCD4056, JazzHausMusik JHM299 and YouTube@tiansaxo.

Every day. A three-part melancholic composition about wanderlust that combines influences from Spanish flamenco, Cuban bolero, and jazz á la Bill Evans.

Fantasy 52. A homage to Frederique Chopin and Ludwig van Beethoven, which goes its own way in its harmonies.

Flor Mixteca. A playful dance with influences from Cha Cha Cha and Tango.

Wild and Free. An endlessly evolving structure in the contemporary piano-jazz style, as coined by Brad Mehldau and others.

Encore (another six weeks). This fusion-esque tune borrows from “Wild und Weit” and is a bittersweet take on the Covid lockdowns.

In "Olfactospheres," Annamaria Kowalsky crafts a symphonic tapestry that transcends the traditional boundaries of music. This composition, presented for symphony orchestra, is a pioneering exploration into the realm of synesthesia, where auditory sensations meld seamlessly with olfactive experiences. Each of the ten pieces within this suite is paired with a distinct scent profile, inviting the audience on a multisensory journey that evokes vivid landscapes of emotion and memory.

The creation of this work was made possible by the kind support of the Austrian Federal Ministry for Arts, Culture, Public Service, and Sports.

"Balloons and more" is a transcribed piano improvisation that sets to music the multifaceted world of thoughts surrounding the emergence of new life. The improvisation is a snapshot that draws less from a rational processing of motivic material and more from profound emotions combined with an irrepressible creative will to express itself. The piece was released in summer 2023 as part of the studio album "Es ist Zeit".

Anima Animæ is my most personal piece to date. It explores the growth cycles of human life through music, suggesting the spiritual significance of "anima animæ" or the birth of "a soul of the soul." The piece is divided into two parts, with the second part redefining the musical structure and form of the first. 

The Charlotte New Music Festival commissioned this work for the Beo String Quartet.

The Divine Comedy is a lengthy Italian narrative poem written by Dante Alighieri between 1308 and 1320. It is widely regarded as one of the most important works in Italian literature and one of the greatest achievements in world literature. The poem chronicles Dante's journey through Hell, Purgatory, and Paradise (Heaven).

In Hell, Dante finds himself lost in a dark forest, unable to escape and uncertain of how to attain salvation. Aware that he is destroying himself and descending into a place of despair, he is eventually rescued by Virgil, who becomes his guide on a profound journey that leads to Paradise. In Purgatory, Dante and Virgil ascend from the dark depths to the Mountain of Purgatory, which comprises seven terraces representing the seven deadly sins. It is a mountain of peace and tranquility. At the conclusion of Purgatory, Dante encounters Beatrice, who serves as his guide to Paradise.

In January 2023 I received the toughest request to compose a work. My dear friend David Zambrano, who is single handedly responsible for supporting my music career since I was 15 years old and who's sponsorship helped me leave my home country of México and study music abroad, found out that he had a very aggressive cancer and wanted me to compose a work of music for him. What followed was a series of phone calls and messages that resulted on this work for solo piano, symphony orchestra and female choir. David, who is not a musician, became a creative partner suggesting style of music, length and even instrumentation. Even the title of the work, which I originally named "David's Flight" was changed to "Flight to Eternity" by David's request.

David is no longer with us but I'm extremely grateful that he got to hear this work and that, according to him, gave him comfort during the hard times of his battle against cancer.

Archangel Concerto for Piano and Orchestra is perhaps the most programmatic piece of music I have ever written. Archangel is in two books. Book One depicts the war between the forces of good and evil set forth in John Milton’s Paradise Lost, and Book Two portrays Adam and Eve (and the Serpent) in Eden and their being cast out into the world we all live. Archangel was premiered at the Church of the Holy Virgin in Manhattan by Jose Ramos Santana, pianist, New York Repertory Orchestra, David Leibowitz, conductor. Recorded by Steven Beck, pianist, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, conducted by Michael Shapiro, on Paumanok Records, this recording went viral during the Pandemic reflecting the work's vibrant depiction of the battle between good and evil which began in Milton's vision prior to the creation of the Universe.

Camille (2010) was commissioned by the Rome-based ensemble Piccola Accademia degli Specchi and is scored for a "Pierrot ensemble" variant of flute, alto saxophone, violin, violoncello and piano 4-hands.

Divided into three sections, Camille follows a fast-slow-fast form, titled Vitality-Tranquility-Triumph. Each movement borrows from the Afro-Cuban rhythmic pattern called clave. This rhythm is often layered 3-2 in one instrument over 2-3 in another.

Traditionally the clave rhythm is performed “linearly” by one instrument, usually a woodblock. In Camille, the clave patterns are spread between many instruments using the medieval hocket technique. As in the optical illusions M.C. Escher, here, the ear can choose to focus on a 3-2 or a 2-3 pattern somewhat like the eye focusing on a white fish or brown fish in his wood cuts.

Piccola Accademia degli Specchi gave the first performance November 14, 2010 at Teatro Quirino, Rome, Italy.

The passacaglia form is pretty much indistinguishable from the chaconne form. Both originate in the Baroque era.(circa 1600-1750) Both forms were originally dances and they came to denote music (usually variations in short diverse sections) erected over or upon a ground bass or an ostinato bass. An ostinato is a constantly repeating musical motif. A Passacaglia or Chaconne is therefor a piece characterized by a musical motif being constantly repeated in the bass part while embedded above it a set of ever evolving refashioned variations.

Ideally, the variation form begins with slow note values and progresses gradually to much faster note values. These types of compositions originated in the cantus firmus practices of choral music during the 17th century. However, this composition “Passacaglia Ma Un Poco Fantasia” is a thoroughly 21st century rendering of this Baroque form or model. 

Variation form tends to bring out the best in my compositional process. It inspires my creative flair. It sparks my interest in building collections of instrumental timbres and then combining them and mixing them into new timbral colors. It is a passion of mine. This piece, when I wrote it, was a passion of mine.

The full score is in A3 page format and the parts are in A4 format.

Composed as part of the vocal compositions series on the seasons, The Cold Earth Slept Below is based on the poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley of the same title. In this poem, a man is walking in the still, icy, cold, freezing winter in the night. As he walked, everything he saw seemed lifeless as though the earth is in the end of days. Above him, the moon is going down as well, making darkness even darker.

The man later passes a swamp, & to his horror, his lover is in it & death has taken her life.

In the composition, the composer starts off with a 16 bars introduction, with each 4 bars increases. This introduction by the piano represents the cold icy winter. At bar 17 the singer comes in, with the main title and describes the moon going down as its first stanza. Then a repeat of the 16 bars introduction is heard again. After the introduction, this time the singer is beside a wintry hedge and the sky is in total darkness. Beside him, there is no grass and birds are resting on a bare, thorn tree which is beside the pathway track. Then the man saw a dead body under the moonlight. It is his lover. Though filled with grief, he is relieved that the sky can visit [her] at will.

Chacarera meets the Puna (2005) unites elements of Viennese atonalism with traditional Argentine songs and dances in a strong and introspective work for solo violin. In 2005, Argentine violinist and conductor Alejandro Drago proposed to me to compose a piece for this instrument. A CD performed by him had been recently released by Tradition, a label from Buenos Aires, and he was working on a second one for the “Classical Music Collection” of that record company. Both albums were somehow linked to Argentine musical nationalism, which incorporated into classical music elements of local folk dances and songs (as seen in works by Alberto Williams, Alberto Ginastera, etc.) while often including references to rural landscapes. In my case, after gladly accepting this proposition, several associations came to my mind.

I was born on the coast of the Baltic Sea, in Stockholm, and then raised close to the Swiss Alps, in Geneva. In part, this is why the sea and the mountains have always fascinated me. Years later, during my adolescence, I took my first trip to Argentina and found out that my French high school was supporting a settlement in the Argentine Puna. This region is a part of the Puna de Atacama, an arid high plateau in the Andes Mountains that belonged to Bolivia and today is shared by Argentina and Chile (not to be confused with the Puna grassland ecoregion). All these memories converged when thinking about this commission and, in my mind, I saw a violinist playing in the middle of the Puna desert, absorbed in the music like in a trance-like state. And that is how Chacarera meets the Puna was conceived.

In this piece, I associated the Puna with the baguala, an Andean chant based on the pitches of a major triad chord, embellished by melodic ornaments called kenko, accompanied by a frame drum called caja and performed solo or in groups at a slow tempo. As an antagonistic element for this work, I selected the chacarera, an Argentine lively couple dance that makes profuse use of syncopation and vertical hemiola. My previous knowledge about baguala and chacarera allowed me to extract and rework their core rhythmic patterns, which I used to create the motivic material of Chacarera meets the Puna after adding them a pitch organization based on elements of Viennese atonalism, in which I was educated. Then, by making use of pseudopolyphony, I created for this piece a musical discourse based on the interchange of equivalent-beat simple- and compound-time meters. Finally, I added to this work a contrasting tremolo texture of ternary rhythm, as well as glissandos and taps on the violin’s body that recall the mentioned kenko and caja, respectively.

Commissioned by and dedicated to Alejandro Drago, my work Chacarera meets the Puna was included on the CD Obras para violín solo Vol. II (2007), performed by him, released by Tradition (TR060427), Buenos Aires (Argentina) and included in the Naxos Music Library (Japan). Chacarera meets the Puna was then premiered in Kiskunhalas (Hungary), on 20 September 2013, at the Áron Szilády Reformed High School by Édua Zádory, who also performed it in the Americas at venues such as the Usina del Arte in Buenos Aires (Argentina).

Dr. Jan Emanuel Abras, Ph.D. (born 1 February 1975 in Stockholm, Sweden)

www.janemanuelabras.com

Red Cliff is a concerto for piano and Western symphony orchestra, structured seamlessly within a single movement divided into four sections. Its thematic genesis draws inspiration from Luo Guanzhong’s esteemed 15th-century historical novel The Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a foundational work within the canon of Chinese literature. Situating itself amidst the tumultuous backdrop of the Three Kingdoms period, a pivotal epoch marking the decline of the Han dynasty in the 3rd century CE, the concerto encapsulates the enduring resonance of Chinese cultural heritage spanning millennia. Narratively, the composition encapsulates the climactic Battle of Red Cliff. In this pivotal event, three potent warlords—Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Sun Quan—contend for dominion over the empire, ultimately catalyzing the emergence of the titular Three Kingdoms.

Comprising four contiguous sections, the concerto unfolds a multifaceted musical narrative:

1.  "Paying 3 Visits to A Recluse’s Cottage" (mm. 1- 56): Embarking with an adagio passage reminiscent of the opening strains of the renowned pipa composition "Waves Dredging Sand" by the blind folk musician Ah Bing (1893-1950), this section evokes the pivotal moment when Liu Bei secures the allegiance of the strategic genius Zhuge Liang after three personal entreaties.

2.  "Heated Debate" (mm. 57-174): Transitioning into an Allegro tempo, the composer deftly employs motifs from "Waves Dredging Sand" as thematic material, orchestrating six dynamic variations that vividly portray Zhuge Liang's persuasive arguments to rally Sun Quan and his military advisors in support of the alliance against Cao Cao.

3.  "Sorrowful Parting" (mm. 175-261): In a poignant departure, the composition channels the emotive essence of a renowned traditional Chinese opera aria, "Sorrowful Parting," attributed to Zhou Yu, as he bids farewell to Huang Gai. This lyrical interlude encapsulates the pathos of impending sacrifice amidst strategic machinations.

4.  “Battle of Red Cliff" (mm. 262-407): Culminating in a virtuosic display, the final segment encapsulates Huang Gai's audacious stratagem, depicting the daring incendiary assault on Cao Cao's fleet. As Huang Gai's "defecting" squadron unleashes infernal chaos, the flames engulf Cao Cao's armada, precipitating a decisive victory for the allied forces.

On October 9, 2016, at the esteemed Kimmel Center in Philadelphia, the world premiere featured virtuoso Ching-Yun Hu as soloist, accompanied by the Chamber Orchestra of Philadelphia under the baton of Dirk Brossé. Subsequently, the composer undertook a re-orchestration of the concerto for a traditional Chinese orchestra, culminating in the world premiere of the revised version on October 6, 2018, at the National Concert Hall in Taipei. Ching-Yun Hu reprised the role of soloist, accompanied by the National Chinese Orchestra Taiwan under the direction of the composer, Yiu-Kwong Chung.

An Ostinato Tango for piano and cello.

Suitable as a concert program of approx. 30 minutes, these saxophone duets range from neo-medieval sounds to calypso, from Spain via the Balkans to Argentina, and from classical and romantic textures to blues and jazz. Precisely notated and organized for stage performance, they challenge the player with their rhythmic and stylistic diversity and extended playing techniques. Chord symbols are provided where appropriate to facilitate improvisation and expansion of the material. With its underlying didactic concept, this collection also lends itself easily to a valuable teaching method.

Difficulty: Medium, sorted by increasing difficulty.

Available for two equal saxophones or alto and tenor saxophone.

"I can highly recommend this collection of original and stylistically diverse saxophone duets in every respect! The sheet music is carefully worked out, and detailed playing instructions and additional information is provided for every piece." (Heiner Wiberny, 1st saxophonist and solist of the WDR big band for 35 years, until 2009, professor for saxophone with Cologne University of Music until 2010)

“You can feel from the first note that the composer of these successful duets is a saxophonist himself and wrote down his musical thoughts detached from the question of genre but with a sense of joy in playing and diversity. Here, the saxophone, the chameleon among the instruments, shines in beautiful harmony. Bravo!” (Christine Rall, Raschér Saxophone Quartet)

Reviewed in Üben und Musizieren, issue 2/2023

Gefördert von der Beauftragten der Bundesregierung für Kultur und Medien im Rahmen von NEUSTART KULTUR.

Contents (with indication of difficulty and recommended instrumentation)

1. Ping Pong (easy, AA)
2. Meditation (easy, TT)
3. Tango For Two Saxophones (medium, AT)
4. Lix Blues (medium, AT)
5. Fantasie 52 (medium, SB/AT)
6. Chocolate con Churros (advanced, TT)
7. Flamenco (advanced, SS/AA)
8. Balkan (advanced, AT)
9. Wolke (difficult, SA)

Author's melody with a love content in a vocal arrangement for Ensemble with 6 voices without accompaniment, in which the harmonic tensions enrich the polyphonic fabric that winds between moments of accompaniment of the singing (soprano) and lyrical outbursts of the other voices, united in counterpoint, which develop the thematic and rhythmic elements of the melody.

Variations on a Ukrainian folk song consist of a theme and three variations. The variations begin with an introduction that immerses the listener in the rich spiritual world of the Ukrainian folk song “Divlyus` ya na nebo.” Next sounds the theme of the song, full of drama and the desire for freedom. In the first variation the thematic material changes. Thanks to the rapid flow of the sixteenth notes, the image becomes more excited. The second variation is heroic in nature and full of indestructible power to fight evil. The third variation is characterized by the image of suffering and intense struggle, which ends with the victory of the forces of light.

Tending for concert band is an arrangement by Michael Markowski of Michael Shapiro's piece originally written for solo piano as part of his American Interludes. Written during the Covid Pandemic, Tending is meant to soothe the listener, giving peace to those in stress, relieving tension, and providing calm.

The first scetches of this composition go back to the late 80s. Back than - after returning from a tour through Eastern Africa - I wrote down a melody in Gb major pentatonic and in 12/8. It went through many metamorhosises till I finally decided to completely revise it.

I came up with a new composition, new countermelodies, different keys and rhythms and other abstracting techniques using what Bertolt Brecht called Verfremdungseffekt.

Originally meant to be an encore for a string quartet when performing my string quartet music it turned out to be a beautiful piece of its own.

(the sound sample is included to give you an idea.

It is a demo version as being played by Sibelius)

The princess’s theme (1997) is the love theme from The castle of Arteaga suite, which features a princess, three knights, and an abandoned fortress. The princess’s theme describes the interaction between the princess from the top of a castle tower, represented by the woodwinds and their descending motifs, and the three knights who have just arrived on their horses at the lower gate of the fortress, represented by the brass and their ascending motifs. The strings, harp, celesta, and percussion represent the feelings of love that the youngest knight feels for the princess and that unite the woodwinds and brass throughout the work. In the field of classical music, The princess’s theme includes motivic and harmonic elements that are original to the composer and that are related to romantic and medieval classical music, whose aesthetics have been borrowed, for example, by Hollywood film music.

The princess’s theme is inspired by an actual visit I made to the castle of Arteaga in the mid 1990’s. At that time the fortress was closed and abandoned, but a friend, who was studying history together with me at the university, got the key and we both visited the castle together with a small group of friends. She was the first woman I fell in love with during my adolescence and, during the visit to the castle of Arteaga, my soul turned her into a princess, my friends and I into knights, and our cars into horses on which we rode through the fields of the Basque Country.

Dr. (PhD) Jan Emanuel Abras

(born 1 February 1975 in Stockholm, Sweden)

www.janemanuelabras.com

'Escheriana' is a tribute to M. C. Escher, the author of wonderful and puzzling engravings, where mathematical contradictions arise in its visual scope. This music takes a “back and forth” direction, as if it was a sort of sliding Moebius Strip, geared towards its ultimate target of B flat major, gravity centre throughout the whole piece.

Recorded by its author in 2010, as track #20 within CD “Intima intención. Obra para piano“, issued by Columna Música. Dedicated to great pianist & advocate of music of XX-XXI centuries, apart from world specialist in Spanish music, Guillermo González.

Paula von Preradovic (12.10.1887 – 25.05.1951)

Dark Hour

Oh, someone should be playing now!

Should play a quiet one,

Cool, gentle, old tune.

Blowing like a distant wind.

Possible that then my soul,

Which has lost itself completely to you,

Would find its way back to the gates,

Where life begins anew!

LIEBESLIEDER, op. 14T

is a loosely arranged song cycle based on six poems by Paula von Preradovic.

This version is for dramatic soprano or mezzo-soprano and piano trio. There is also a version for chamber orchestra and one for piano.

1. Dark Hour,

2. You are enthroned in Purple, 3. Old-fashioned Song

4. Love, once flown away

5. Stream and Sea

6. Sad Song

Duration approx. 20 minutes

Six love songs based on texts by the Old-Austrian poet Paula von Preradovic radiate a golden glow - six different ways of looking at love!

Special features: Each song has its own character. The music interprets the text succinctly: e.g. Number one: low flute and harp ".... A distant wind..."

Number two: string runs: pulsation of the blood,

Number three: "...circles..." also the music, "scatters along the way (flute and clarinet), Number four: "...mocks..." the clarinet as love for the one who wants to capture it,

in number five: the music depicts the roaring waters,

in number six it expresses the lamenting cry of the lonely through two chords (A flat major sixth chord - C major).

The sixth song also takes the form of a passacaglia and layers melody upon melody, so that in the third verse the melodies of the second and first are instrumentally audible.

This form is intended to emphasize the compulsive nature of these states, which are all based on a pattern; from the threshold of death onwards, the compulsion is lifted and the music now moves without the "corset" of the passacaglia and reinterprets the words "...long enough!" in a hopeful way.

The cycle offers the soloist the opportunity to show herself from many sides thanks to its many colors. Numbers one and three: Iyrical; number two: extremely rhythmic; number four: agile; number five: operatically dramatic, number six: lyrical - dramatic.

The Peony Pavilion is a romantic tragicomedy play written by dramatist Tang Xianzu in 1598. The play has 55 scenes, and the plot depicts a love story between the young scholar Liu and his beloved Du, a maiden of sixteen, whom he first meets in a dream and later successfully marries after she has died of longing for him. The play was originally written for staging as Kunqu opera, one of the traditional Chinese theatre arts genres.

Written for solo violin and solo cello accompanied by two antiphonal string ensembles consisting of 10 violins, 4 violas, 2 cellos, and 2 double basses, Peony Pavilion for Violin, Violoncello and Orchestra was first performed on March 12, 2009, by the National Symphony Orchestra of Taiwan. The work has two sections. The first section depicts Du visiting her deserted family garden with her maidservant. The second section depicts Du sinking into a daydream in which she encounters Liu and falls in love with him, and then, the dream is suddenly interrupted. When Du wakes and realizes that all is a dream, she is heartbroken and falls ill.

Watch this movie clip to understand the style and tempo of the main theme "What beautiful shades of violet and red, a garden in full bloom!" from the original Kunqu Opera "Peony Pavilion". This theme starts from the 3rd beat of measure 15, in the Solo Violin part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DK_27SRDcDs

"Quel che resta" is a composition included in the album "Antonio Cocomazzi Project, 2007, YouTube" and recorded by the same composer at piano, whose liner notes were written by Maestro Ennio Morricone

“I’ve listened very carefully to this cd by Antonio Cocomazzi (pianist and composer of all the works herein), which boasts the collaborative efforts of trumpeter Mike Applebaum.

The entire group evoked in me memories of my youth, when I too was writing jazz works and performing them on the trumpet. But in this excellent production one perceives clearly that the passage of time has worked to the advantage of Antonio and Mike.

The four musicians heard here have ventured into the realm of very difficult virtuostic performances (with very good results!) that provoke admiration fromboth jazz professionals and amateurs alike.

Listening to Mike in spectacular high notes in unison with Antonio’s piano stirs in me great consideration for the talent and preparation necessary for these performances.

Antonio Cocomazzi is an excellent pianist, very well assisted by bassist Emanuele Ciampichetti and drummer Antonio Del Sordo. And with this group, original in its compositional forms and musical content, the four of them demonstrate that courage “pays” through its musical results”.

Ennio Morricone

Listen to "Quel che resta" on Youtube, Spotify or Apple Music

** It is specified that the part of the piano also includes all of others instrument (SCORE)

A pop style feel-good and happy track brimming with positive emotion. The track has a laid-back and relaxing vibe suitable for love scenes, vacation scenes or any other happy moments in life. Perfect for films or commercials. The track has the following instruments: background vocals, guitars, synths, ocean sounds, piano, pads, drums, bass.

Very short composition focused on the theme of dreams. A composition of great emotional effect.

This piece was influenced by the hot arid desert landscape of the American west. It was directly inspired by an episode of the TV series 'The Virginian'. It was first performed by a student for their MMus degree recital at Bath Spa University (UK) in 2021. It is a piece popular with my own students at advanced level.

The work is performed by concert pianist Nicola Meecham on a Steinway D in the Youtube video below.

This piece is a duet for classical guitars that depicts a rainy scene at the Cijin Harbor in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. The music begins with a motif of staccato 8th notes representing rain drops. As the music develops, the increasing density of the motif notes imitates the increasing rainfall. The second guitar mainly carries out the rhythm of the rain. The entire piece evinces a style of minimalist improvisation, which paints an incidental picture of rainfall at the harbor. In the end, the music returns to the starting motives with the rain diminishing and eventually fading away.

Juliette's Lullaby is a simple recreational piece, constructed from a cyclical pattern in the left hand. Imbued with melancholy, it was composed in memory of my grandmother.

"Wild und Weit" (German: Wild and Free) is an hommage to the unknown, a journey through space and time, through undiscovered territory. Piano, double bass and drums introduce a timeless contemporary jazz theme in 6/8 meter. The piano develops it further into a solo over the changes. Meanwhile, strings have secretly entered the stage. They spin the music further into a fugue and a reflective cello side theme in 4/4. In the reprise, the strings take the lead. This composition wants to bring jazz and classical musicians closer together again, and shows that improvisation and written-out music have only been declared a contradiction in very recent music history, while they never really were. A recording of this music by the Composers' Orchestra Berlin is published on "Exoplanet" (JazzHausMusik JHM 299).

"The listener is further disarmed by conceptions of classical-jazz by 'Wild und Weit', a piece arriving with a complex, syncopated piano-bass-percussion that seems to dare the string section to arrive." (New York City Jazz Record, September 2024)

Heart Meditation is a piece for ensemble and electronic track. The piece works with two time systems: an equivalent of the heartbeat as an internal pulse and seconds. The musicians move intuitively through 30 second timeframes. They move intuitively on their own, but have certain anchor points where they have to move together. It's an 11min journey.

The Gift was written for a short film directed by Julio Pot. The first performance took place in Chicago during THE SOUND OF SILENT FILM FESTIVAL, performed by members of the PALOMAR ensemble, conducted by Francesco Milioto, an event that took place on April 29, 2014.

A prelude for piano solo.

Soundtrack

This short work for alto saxophone and piano dates from 2007. It is an excerpt from a larger composition that was dedicated to American composer - and former teacher - Harold Shapero. It was first performed by Kenneth Radnofsky and John McDonald on April 29th, 2007 on a concert by the Lumen Contemporary Music Ensemble in Arlington, MA (USA). It was subsequently performed by Rachel G. Cox and Robert Jeter on October 2nd, 2010 at Eastern Tennessee State University (ETSU). The work is thematic and can be licensed or arranged for commercial purposes - including theatre or film.

I grew up in during the 70's and 80's going to music school in the afternoons and listening to the great orchestral movie soundtracks during the weekends. As a result my music is a combination of my concert music training and the movie soundtracks I listened while growing up. In this work in particular, a love tone poem, or a love theme for an imaginary film, I write in the tradition of those wonderful love themes that one would encounter in movies a few decades ago. This music was not composed for any film but for the film each one of the listeners will create in his or her own mind when listening.

Two stars is a lyrical miniature about love and hope, sadness and tenderness.

This is a piece with its own program: two stars shine brightly in the night sky and send their light to each other across long distances. It happens that two loving hearts cannot be together but despite all obstacles they send each other the light of their love.

American Interludes, dedicated to the great pianist Lara Downes, is a collection of three pieces written during the Pandemic and meant to soothe the listener and relieve stress.

The first movement is entitled CALMING and is exactly that. In any time of stress, this music is intended to present calm and peace.

The second movement called TENDING is about finding internal peace by helping others. We tend to the pain or suffering of others by gently relieving the afflicted by tender strokes and acts of loving kindness.

The last movement is called IN EVERY ONE and separates the word "everyone" into two. This represents the Quaker notion that in every person, indeed in every one, there is an eternal spark. It is the composer's hope that listening to this work releases that light that is hidden in many and in each of us may shine forth.

(The following is excerpted from the liner notes to Nicolas Horvath’s recording of Quiet Rhythms Book I.)

Susman composed the pieces in a kind of creative frenzy, while following a rigorous approach to structure, without necessarily anticipating that the cycle would finally take on such a vast scale. Each book includes 11 Actions, each of which is preceded by a Prologue. The Prologues are fluid pieces, laid out like the ebb and flow of waves in a harmonic ocean, like rhythmic ostinati which prepare the ear for the Action that will follow. These descriptive Prologues, sometimes having the character of a toccata, were composed after the Actions to which they correspond, and use different compositional techniques. The Prologues provide a “smoothed out” version of the harmonic tapestry of the Actions, in which Susman gives full rein to isorhythmic invention.

“The term ‘Action’ expresses first the movement: we are going somewhere. Its meaning is also philosophical, reflecting a desire to move the pianist and the listener to a different space. Through something different from what I‘ve done in the past, more syncopated. For me, it was also a way of ‘putting into action’ the innumerable ideas that I had mentally accumulated for several years concerning rhythm. These Actions are like bursts of inspiration, snippets of ideas that I needed to extend. I tried to develop these fragments into something that moved my ideas forward...”

The Actions, above all, are about movement. Strictly speaking, they are not “studies”, but each explores an idea or (iso)rhythmic cell with a continually changing metrical structure, borrowed either from montuño - the rhythmic and harmonic framework that is the foundation of the Cuban sound, or from clave - a rhythm of African origin, which is found in both Cuban rumba and Brazilian samba, formed by two measures of two beats each, the first of which (tresillo in Spanish) contains three sounds and the second, two.

The total effect is captivating. The combination of rhythmic instability with a carefully developed harmonic ambiguity intensifies the intoxicating, dizzying sensation of the music, and creates a fascinating internal energy, a breath that is both suspended and active. Nicolas Horvath finds “something both eternal and fragile,” in these virtuosic pieces. They seem at times to have always been there, like the iridescent reflections of the sun on the ocean. It is as if these syncopated yet unperturbed rhythms, like brush strokes which in turn rise and fall, triggered a palette of harmonious sound colors with endless nuances. Through “snippets of ideas that would simply take much longer to disappear,” these syncopations reach forward and backward, as in a dance, like the waves of the sea, surging in and flowing out. The tide has a life of its own.

— David Sanson

Translated from the French by Nicolas Horvath and Stephen Eddins

In 2022/23 I wrote about 62 minutes of piano music entitled 'Impromptus und Interationen'.

12 Impromptus and 4 Interationen.

The Interationen are with preparations or/and are (partly) being played inside.

The work follows a certain dramaturgy.

Nevertheless other combinations, shorter versions, taking out the prepared piano Interationen - all this is possible.

For a concert due to the preparations and the removal of them it might be a good idea to begin with Interation #1.

The challenge of a cappella choir is to make sure the music is engaging enough so as to not draw attention to the fact that there is no instrumental accompaniment whatsoever. How is the composer to satisfy with confidence the expectations of the listener’s ear. The composition’s “heart of the matter” and the craftsmanship of the composer are both wonderfully exposed. Therefor the composition needs to be imaginative in its own right so that it can exist alone without the need of instrumental accompaniment. A cappella choir is a test of resolve, a test of faithfulness. A cappella is an honest unelaborated musical response to a worthwhile text. A chorus without an escort reveals jus what a powerhouse it can be.

The text “And Yet There Could Be Love” was created by an anonymous Vietnamese poet. The homophonic setting of this text ensures that the text will be easily understood and appreciated. The simple and indelible gentleness expressed in this text served as simple inspiration, encouragement and incentive for this musical rendering.

The format of the full score is A4.

Written for Soprano Solo, Violoncello & Piano, The Return Of The Spring is sung in Chinese & may sung in English or German. The poem is by renowned Chinese female poet Chuan Mei & was written in the year 2019. The poem itself was awarded a prize & was subsequently published in one of the renowned publishing companies in China. 

The composition is written in the key of c minor, in the time signature of 6/8 with Lento as its starting speed. In the begining, a short introduction which brings a sense of sadness is being heard through the deep resonance of the cello & the the piano. Then the soprano joins in, singing the verse Do you believe,the spring will always return? Through a series of dialogue between the soprano, piano & the cello, at bar 25 the ""bees buzz& that singals the return of the spring & is produced by the polyrhythm,changing of key from c minor to C major, & the increased speed of 

the instruments.  

The soprano rejoins at bar 39, telling us why the spring returns. Through the sheep & the wolf (that are from the verse), spring symbolizes love from Mother Nature & through its love, both sheep & the wolf will have ample food, so that the food chain will not be broken. At the end of bar 46, the is back to c minor with the reprise of the bees buzz effect & from bar 49 till bar 58, ends with an octave higher. At bar 59, the key is moduated to C major again, & this time round, the soprano comes in at bar 63, telling those who are lost, or have regrets that spring has return & everyone should have a

chance to amend their mistakes & return to their rightful path.

Actus contritionis (2006) portrays the battle between angels and demons for a human soul in a dark and bright work for speaker, mixed choir, chamber ensemble and electronics. After studying with Kurt Schwertsik, Leopold Hager and Ingomar Rainer at the mdw – University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, I spent some time working abroad as an orchestra conductor. In 2006, after being accepted as a student of Krzysztof Penderecki, I moved to Poland to study with him at the Academy of Music in Kraków. At the same time, some European foundations that wanted to remain anonymous commissioned me a trilogy of sacred music works of pastoral nature. World religions and myths have fascinated me since my childhood and, during my education as a historian, I became interested in angels and demons while studying anthropology, theology and church history at the university. Thus, I gladly started to conceive these pieces.

Several theistic worldviews still believe in the existence of intellectual beings who are different than humans and ontologically lower than their creator deity. The Hebrew Bible and the Christian New Testament state that, by moving between heaven and earth, some of these angelic beings help humans, while others harm them. The Fourth Council of the Lateran explained that, even if all angels were created good by God, some of them turned evil on their own and became known as demons after rejecting him. Thus, many theologians think that angels protect humankind and watch over its salvation, while demons try to cause moral damage to humanity by tempting it into sin, which is defined as an offense against God that turns humans away from his love. The Council of Trent claimed that the Church received from Jesus Christ the power to forgive the sins of the baptized through the Sacrament of Penance, which reconciles man with God. And, according to exorcist Gabriele Amorth, this sacrament tears human souls away from the demon.

When remembering the aforementioned concepts, an overwhelming emotion came over me and, in my mind, I heard and saw a battle in heaven between angels and demons for the soul of a person who was praying the Act of Contrition before receiving absolution. And this is how my work Actus contritionis was born (hence its title). I composed this piece in the tradition of Polish sonorism, which I absorbed while studying with Krzysztof Penderecki, and added to it the result of my interest in bioacoustics and integer sequences. Thus, this work makes use of sound masses, clusters, glissandos, tremolos, extended performance techniques, elements of freedom and choice, etc.

Actus contritionis was premiered in Kraków (Poland), on 13 January 2007, thanks to the efforts of Teresa Malecka and Michal Pawelek, who provided the venue (Chamber Hall of the Academy of Music in Kraków) and the performers: Wojciech Leonowicz, narrator; Chór Kameralny Muzyki Wspólczesnej; Wiktoria Chrobak, percussion; Michal Pawelek, piano; Piotr Grodecki, double bass; Grzegorz Brajner, conductor. The dedication of this work includes the Jesus Prayer and also reads: “In memory of Gabriele Amorth”. This piece won the TRINAC Prize 2008 (EIMC-ISCM).

Dr. Jan Emanuel Abras, Ph.D. (born 1 February 1975 in Stockholm, Sweden)

www.janemanuelabras.com

The 'Cinco Toccatas desde el Término Medio' (Five Toccatas from the Golden Mean), have a more complex origin.

Their generic title is derived from the letter Mozart wrote to his father from Vienna on December 28th, 1782: «The golden mean of truth in all things is no longer either known or appreciated. In order to win applause one must write stuff which is so inane that a coachman could sing it, or so unintelligible that it pleases precisely because no sensible man can understand it» (translation by Emily Anderson).

When I began writing the toccatas, my intention was to extend the emotional spectrum I had thus far produced and imbue the spirit of all five pieces with the maximum extroversion. 

Autorretrato - Self-portrait is the fourth work in this cycle, and was written for the late pianist Fernando Puchol.

The "Atomblitz Overture", op. 252/1, is the first movement of the "Simä Suite", which uses themes from Alexander Blechinger's opera "Simä - Ein Fest in die Zukunft / A celebration into the future - Der Anfang nach. dem Ende / The beginning after the end" based on the libretto by Elisabeth Schrattenholzer, but which are placed in a new context here. The "Atomblitz Overture" can be used as a prelude to the opera. In the opera, two people in love from two different social classes meet and are prevented from falling in love by society. In addition to the external event of an atomic flash in the opera, which has a cruel effect on its surroundings but is reinterpreted here as an inner sign of change, the following themes, among others, form a new whole: The melancholy of lost love, the disciplining of feelings, the inescapability of the material world, the great love that resonates beyond it, found togetherness and fulfillment. Instrumentation: so-called 2-part instrumentation or Beethoven/Verdi orchestration. Duration: approx. 11 minutes.

Music for Gourd is a composition commissioned jointly by the Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra and the Taipei Chinese Orchestra. It was completed in July 2012 in Taipei and later re-orchestrated for the Western orchestra in 2019. The entire piece, approximately 16 minutes long, is structured as a single-movement concerto divided into three closely connected sections: fast, slow, and fast. The solo instrument featured is the 36-reed modernized Sheng.

The first section is characterized by a tranquil introduction followed by a rhythmically intense dance. The harmonic language in this section is characterized by sharp dissonances, exploiting the unique playing techniques and utilizing the diverse modern soundscape of the Sheng.

The second section presents a graceful Hmong Qeej Dance featuring the traditional Hmong wind instrument also known as Lusheng. The Hmong Qeej Dance is later transformed into continuous rapid 32nd note scale passages, presenting a formidable challenge to the soloist. The Lusheng, made of bamboo pipes with free reeds, is central to the musical traditions of the Hmong ethnic group and is often used in their rituals, ceremonies, and traditional music.

In the third section of "Music for Gourd," the influence of Thai Khaen solo music is evident. The Khaen, a traditional free-reed mouth organ from Thailand, contributes to this section's lively and playful melody, characterized by rapid repetitions of single notes or chords. Incorporating the Khaen music adds a distinctive Southeast Asian flavor to the composition, enriching its cultural tapestry.

The composition concludes with a brilliant solo Sheng passage accompanied by the woodwind and percussion sections of the orchestra, showcasing the rugged aspects of "Gourd Music" and culminating in a climax of heightened intensity. This juxtaposition of traditional Chinese, Hmong, and Thai musical elements not only reflects the multicultural landscape of contemporary music but also highlights the versatility and adaptability of traditional instruments in modern compositions.

In summary, Music for Gourd is a compelling exploration of cultural intersections, featuring the distinctive timbres and expressive capabilities of traditional Chinese, Hmong, and Thai instruments. Through its innovative blending of musical traditions, this composition offers a captivating sonic journey that transcends cultural boundaries, celebrating the richness and diversity of Asian musical heritage.

"Yuria" is the original motion picture soundtrack of the film "Yuria" by Mattia Riccio.

A dance that never happened, that could have been, but never was. A life that is standing still, but still goes on. When can we move on? A contemplative string intro leads to a sad notated flute solo, before the orchestra establishes a tango rhythm. Experimental sound spheres culminate in a desparate accusation.

This tango nuevo for small orchestra was written in 2015 for the Composers' Orchestra Berlin. When the ensemble released a CD during the COVID lockdowns (JazzHausMusik 285), it became evident that the extramusical theme of this composition got an entirely new meaning. The composition was re-orchestrated for chamber orchestra by the composer in 2023.

Based on Novalis' "Hymns to the Night", the work plays with directions in time and consciousness. Fragments of the first hymn are woven together in a dystopian atmosphere, creating an inverted subtext of the literary work.

The playing instruments are blended with the track so that the listener can hardly distinguish what is "real" in the fog of sound.

Composed as a study for solo clarinet, [a]new, translates Gertrude Stein’s poem New to music.

By systematically mapping the ASCII letter characters from every word in the verse to musical structure, every line becomes a phrase, resulting in modal and metric forms that emerge from the text itself.

Roller Coaster is an overture-sized tour de force for large orchestra depicting the ups and downs of life as characterized by a wild amusement park ride. First premiered by the Cabrillo Festival of Contemporary Music virtuoso Orchestra under conductor Marin Alsop, Roller Coaster utilizes many of the sounds of a modern symphony pulverizing the audience with a magnum opus sure to excite and thill audiences, a perfect opening work.

The piece consists of several clearly differentiated sections of, in part, markedly varied durations. The three woodwind instruments and the horn on the one hand and the four stringed instruments on the other are grouped symmetrically in a radius around an imaginary mirror axis. The two disparate groups with their highly different instrumental characters are supported by two hi-hats and two bass-drums sounded exclusively by foot-pedal. The fact that this 'low-tech' layer, whose sonorous quality cannot be modified, is set against the highly sophisticated sound-world of the wind and stringed instruments proved to be a fascinating compositional challenge for me.

I did not fall back upon cymbal tremoli to 'mediate' between the two, no mallet sound to reconcile the different timbres, no tam-tams to provide depth or triangles to supply lighter sound colours – just two naked sound sources which can only be modified in their dynamics and in the contrast between dry and echoed sound: that is all to lend more plasticity to the musical argument. They do, however, trigger off some chain reactions of their own.

J. M. Staud

Written in 2020 and revised in 2021 this is an ongoing series of orchestra pieces.

Here I put three compositions of mine together creating this suite.

I added interludes and intertwined the compositional elements.

Each of the movements also works on its own.

They are written for chamber orchestra to large orchestra.

In the instrument parts I put in the minimum number of players (for example 1 Flute).

More players especially in the wind section may improve the overall sound.

Movement 1 is an orchestra version of my composition Oberschoeneweide (originally written for a documentary on that district of Berlin in 1993), movement 2 is an orchestra version of my composition 'Mala Dr'ole' from 1990, movement 3 the orchestra version of the 'Afrika Variationen' originally written for a tour through Africa in the 80's.

There is a version of the 'Afrika Variationen' for string quartet as well here on my UE site.

The soundlinks are demo versions from Sibelius using the VSL sound library - only to give you an idea.

Inspired from the Old Testament on the story of Tower of Babel, By the waters of Babylon is in two parts: In the first part, God destructs Tower of Babel & the 2nd part, humanity seeks forgiveness & be faithful to God.

The work was world premiered at Esplanade recital studio on 22nd May 2021 by Ong Chun Ling & Pauline Lee, under the recital "Temasek- A Vocal Compositions Recital" which was hosted by Association of Composers (Singapore).

Sitwa Raymi (2014) takes the listener to the sound world of the ancient Inca Empire and its religion in a solemn work for mixed choir, chamber ensemble and electronics. As a European artist and scientist, my first trip to Peru was a fascinating opportunity to experience in person what I had learned as a historian and musicologist. And years later, as a composer and conductor, I felt the need to express through music my view of the amazing South American culture and people I found in Peruvian locations such as Lima, Cusco, Qenko, Puka Pukara, Tambomachay, Sacsayhuamán, Písac, Yucay, Ollantaytambo, Machu Picchu, Aguas Calientes, Nazca, etc.

During the 16th century, Sitwa Raymi was an important religious ceremony of the Inca Empire in South America. According to Spanish chronicler Cristóbal de Molina (1529–1585), it was created by Emperor Inca Yupanqui and took place yearly in Cusco to ask the Maker (Viracocha, the creator deity) for protection against diseases caused by floods. However, this ceremony was also related to livestock and agricultural production, politics and social relations. My work Sitwa Raymi immerses the listener in an imaginary aural journey to attend this religious celebration through a piece of classical music that combines extended performance techniques with pentatonic harmony and Baroque contrapuntal procedures.

The “First prayer to the Maker”, collected by Molina, was said by Inca priests during Sitwa Raymi. It praises Viracocha for forming humanity while asking about his celestial dwelling and begging him for a peaceful life, protection, etc. I used this sacred poem as a starting point to create my work from an ekphrastic and intertextual perspective by transmedializing literary structures (such as patterns, proportions, etc.) into musical ones. I then added an electroacoustic soundscape with auditory illusions (mainly made from Andean sound sources related to religious ceremonies) that merges with the sounds of the choir, accompanied by a trumpet and a tenor drum (which may be respectively substituted by Andean instruments known as pututu and wankara).

My work Sitwa Raymi was commissioned by the Ensamble Vocal Cámara XXI of Buenos Aires and premiered by the same group, on 14 June 2015, under the direction of Miguel Ángel Pesce. This first performance took place at the St. Charles Borromeo’s Basilica of that city during the 20th Series of the Don Bosco Concerts. Dedicated to the aforementioned artists and in memory of Daniel Sartori, this work has also been performed at other venues, including several churches of Buenos Aires (St. Peter González Telmo, St. Ignatius of Loyola, Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Most Holy Sacrament Basilica, St. Ildephonsus, Patronage of St. Joseph, etc.). Sitwa Raymi was included on the CD Bavel (2016), performed by the Ensamble Vocal Cámara XXI, under the baton of Miguel Ángel Pesce, and released by this group in Argentina with the financial support of the Argentine National Institute of Music.

Dr. Jan Emanuel Abras, Ph.D. (born 1 February 1975 in Stockholm, Sweden)

www.janemanuelabras.com

'Transparent clouds. Crystal skies' attempts to bring the unattainable to sound. That which is intangible due to its diaphanous nature. Heights as repose. Our interior as such.

While it tries to pay homage to the genius of Luis Ángel de Benito, whose major talent we all perceive (and I would say we consider inimitable).

Stabat Mater for choir and orchestra with a romantic character since the author believes that tonal music should not undergo useless evolutions if not strictly necessary and that orchestral music should also respond to generating principles of infinitesimal works

The original version of the Requiem is for soli, chorus and orchestra and was composed in 1998/1999. The work was written in honour and in memory of Padre Pio, to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of his death (on 23 September 1998). Antonio Cocomazzi is originally from San Giovanni Rotondo, a small town in southern Italy where the friar lived and worked for fifty years.

The Requiem is divided into fourteen pieces of the total duration of about an hour and emphasizes the typical canons of the Requiem Mass with Latin text taken from the Missal. It has characteristics of usability and accessibility and the instrumental writing is dense and "suffers" the texts it deals with. The harmonious architecture is always supported by continuous contrapuntal games and impetuous rhythms.

In 2022, was released the soli, choir and organ version that manteins the vocal parts unchanged but replace the orchestra with the organ (https://fanlink.to/Cocomazzi_Requiem). 

Listen the LIVE CONCERT on YouTube

REQUIEM

ad Patris Pii honorandam memoriam

for soli, choir and orchestra (1998-1999)

INDEX

I INTROITUS

1.Requiem, choir, soprano I

2. II KYRIE, sopranos, tenor, bass, choir

III SEQUENTIA

3. Dies irae, choir

4. Tuba mirum, sopranos, tenor, bass

5. Rex tremendae, choir

6. Recordare, sopranos, tenor, bass

7. Confutatis, choir                               

8. Lacrimosa, sopranos, tenor, bass, choir                                      

IV OFFERTORIUM

9. Domine Jesu Christe, choir, tenor                   

10. Hostias, sopranos, choir                                       

11. V SANCTUS, choir                                 

12. VI BENEDICTUS, sopranos, tenor, bass                          

13. VII AGNUS DEI, soprano II                    

14. VIII COMMUNIO, Lux aeterna, choir, sopranos, tenor, bass

*** It is specified that the Piano Reduction is included in the vocal parts.

This piece is a duet for flute and percussion which was inspired by the legend of "Rmdax Tasing" (White Stone) from the Seediq tribe in Taiwan. The music mainly describes the Seediq people hunting in Rmdax Tasing of the Central Mountain Range. The white stone is like a lighthouse to guide the people's footsteps, so that the people will not get lost in the vast Central Mountain Range. The music uses the rhythm of percussion instruments and various flute articulations to create a hunting atmosphere, with hunting scenes such as waiting and chasing. The music ends with a long sound, which means that the "Rmdax Tasing" huge rock is the holy stone of the Seediq tribe and is admired by the tribe.

Pedra nua (Naked Stone) is the fourth movement of the choral work Llum (Light). This work has been recorded by the Latvian Radio Choir conducted by Sigvards Klava and released on an award-winning CD produced by Ondine Records. 

Pedra nua (Naked Stone) is the fourth movement of Llum (Light), an invitation to take a journey inward, to travel to the immense space which is, precisely, what makes us human, to that silent place which exists within us, to the deep wellspring that is the birthplace of everything, to the bright sapling of Peace; to the infinite, which announces the Mystery; to the gift of Life, Peace and Love. The text was written by Vicenç Santamaria, a monk from the monastery of Montserrat.

Pedra nua (Naked Stone) is a contrapuntal work comprising a retrograde canon in the female voices and a canon on the octave which functions as a drone in the male voices. The austerity of the technique of invertible counterpoint generates, with very few notes, great complexity of intervallic relationships. I have used this technique in order to create a sparse music - in the face of the coldness of naked stone - which, at the same time, is nevertheless worked in such a way as to make reference to the complexity of Life that has its origin, as the second verse says, in ‘the great silence’.

Pedra nua (Naked Stone) is dedicated to my friend and composer Bernat Vivancos.

Ramon Humet 

Angelus is a quiet and atmospheric piece with overt minimalist influences. The Angelus is one of the significant Christian devotions, and traditionally this call to prayer would be evoked by the ringing of a bell. In the music, one can hear the gently tolling, repeating patterns change gradually throughout. (C. Cooman)

Composed in three sections, Angelus gradually unfolds a simple phrase schema consisting of a few chords, that albeit similar in construction, create a transformative musical space. In a vocalize-like manner, the resulting melodies further support this harmonic design, conveying a sense of mystery. (Z. Nagy)

VOICES of the Holocaust is an eight movement work for soloist (soprano or tenor), mixed chorus, and chamber orchestra. Each movement is in a different language, Hebrew, Spanish, Italian, French, and Ladino, making clear the international scale of this tragedy.

VOICES is of course a work of remembrance. But it is also a warning.

Based on Sephardic poetry of the Holocaust compiled by (and used with permission of)

Isaac Jack Levy, VOICES is my requiem to those countless souls murdered by the Nazis

and their collaborators. It is indeed a Kaddish, the Aramaic word for “holy,” a hymn of

sanctification.

Yet, unlike a Mourner’s Kaddish, Voices is meant to be a living expression of those stilled

by evil and tyranny.

May their VOICES be heard!

Low Strings Drama is conceived as a programmatic musical drama for viola and violoncello. Articulating through eleven variations, it develops melodic ideas and chord sequences exposed in the first movement. In line with traditional dramas, possibly of a mystery or detective nature, this composition alternates tense and turbid moments to frantic and dramatic passages. At the same time, it elegantly makes use of numerous idiomatic features that enable the viola and violoncello to combine in highly effective and often unusual textures.

Low Strings Drama can nicely complement chamber performance programmes, and it equally suits professional and student musicians.

This composition was originally commissioned by Intervox Production Music to be featured in their Iconica label. The full album is available through Intervox website, as well as Spotify, iTunes, and other major online music stores.

“The Sun is the Ocean” (circa 1980-1981) was my first undergraduate composition. I was 26 years old at the time studying composition with Janice Giteck at Cornish Institute for the Allied Arts located in Seattle Washington. 

“The Sun is the Ocean” holds a special place for me in my heart. When I started to work on the piece I made a pact with myself not to alter or revise one single micron of the music as I worked on it. I did this because at the time I was influenced by the work of science fiction writer Harlan Ellison and he once said this is how he likes to write, very in the moment.

 I composed“The Sun is the Ocean” in segments at the piano in a movie theatre that I worked at. The movie theatre owned a piano and it was made available to the general public. When I had the opportunity I would come in sit down and begin work sometimes amidst crowds of people waiting to watch the movie. 

I must say what joy! What fun!

Writing the text proved to be, for me, the most challenging and the most difficult aspect of the craft of creation. Creating the music was relatively easy for me. The meaning of the piece concerns the inner realm of the heart. And poetry can with great satisfaction express the inexpressible.

I love the simplicity, sincerity and transparency of “The Sun is the Ocean.”

There are brief sections of solo soprano.

The full score and Harp part are both in A4 format.

Translated as Hail, Hoy Body, Ave Verum Corpus is ais a short Eucharistic chant that has been set to music by many composers. including Mozart, William Byrd & Edward Elgar. In truth, not all composers use the complete text. In this composition, the composer is based on the text by Mozart's Ave Verum Corpus. The score is in sounding pitch.

The original verse should be as follows:

Ave verum corpus, natum

de Maria Virgine,

vere passum, immolatum

in cruce pro homine

cuius latus perforatum

fluxit aqua et sanguine:

esto nobis prægustatum

in mortis examine.

O Iesu dulcis, O Iesu pie,

O Iesu, fili Mariae.

Miserere mei. Amen.

Translated in English: 

Hail, true Body, born

of the Virgin Mary,

having truly suffered, sacrificed

on the cross for mankind,

from whose pierced side

water and blood flowed:

Be for us a foretaste [of the Heavenly banquet]

in the trial of death!

O sweet Jesus, O holy Jesus,

O Jesus, son of Mary,

have mercy on me. Amen.