Yesterday I attended the farewell party of the former Chamber Choir of the Berlin University of the Arts in which I participated and performed during the last fourteen years. It was an affectionate and communicative gathering of the most recent choir members. My contribution was to present Max Reger‘s Nachtlied, Op. 138 No. 3, in my own piano transcription (please find the sheet music of my version here, as well as the choir’s recording of the original piece). This composition, one of my all-time favourites in the choral repertoire, represents some unforgettable memories related to music-making which I am grateful to share with my dear colleagues.
Compositions
Music for Voices
Pleased to announce two new contributions of vocal music:
(1) Last year I dedicated a composition named Silbensalat to my son Lionel as a gift to his fourth birthday. The work comprises four canons in different combinations of voices, scales, and intervals, and is set to lighthearted texts about Lionel’s most beloved things and activities. Just in time before he turned five today, I finally managed to complete the sheet music of the pieces, which is available here.
(2) Fascinated by the delicate and imaginative music of singer-songwriter Eleni Irakleous aka Eleni Era, I recently arranged two of her tunes, Beautiful Moon and Big Star, for solo voice and SATB mixed chorus. Sheet music is provided here by courtesy of the artist. You can listen to the original songs at this place.
Sculpture of Sound
The recording of one of my most virtuosic compositions, ›Three‹ from the 2009 piano cycle Skulpturen, is now available for listening. Before I performed the piece in Bremen two weeks ago, I captured the preceding rehearsal somewhat in a hurry—and this material served as a basis for some weirdly detailed audio editing. So be aware that this is not a live recording, even though it may sound as if it were. Measured by these far-from-ideal conditions, I am fairly satisfied with the result and venture to share it with you today. If you are a pianist and feel inclined to tackle this piece so as to produce a more convincing performance or recording, please find the sheet music here.
Composer Slam on the Weser
Thrilled to participate in a Composer Slam once more! Saturday, March 9, will see me performing two of my solo piano compositions in the chamber hall of Die Glocke Bremen, presented by the incomparable Simon Kluth. Get ready for an exciting and multifaceted line-up, also featuring appearances by Lenka Zupkova, Hauke Scholten, Tonio Geugelin, and Ehsan Ebrahimi. Looking forward to traveling to beautiful Bremen again!
Premiere in Slovenia
As a composer, I occasionally show a certain predilection for idiosyncratic combinations of instruments. This applies, for example, to my four-part duo cycle At the Forest Verge for guitar and marimba, which will be premiered on Wednesday, March 6, 7:30 pm, in a faculty concert at Ljubljana Academy of Music. Many thanks to percussionist Petra Vidmar and guitarist Izidor Erazem Grafenauer for staging my music in Slovenia for the first time!