Frédéric Chopin wrote 57 mazurkas, covering 20 of the 24 major and minor keys. I’m currently doing analytical annotations of the whole corpus in context of a musicological research project at TU Dresden, adding Roman numerals to every single chord in order to make the music accessible to computational modeling. Moreover, my bulky thesis chapter on Nikolai Medtner’s G minor Sonata, Op. 22, is approaching its final shape, incorporating Schenkerian and metrotechtonic perspectives. What a stunning masterpiece of musical architecture!
Musicians on Music: A No-Go
Dear fellow musicians and performers, please do me a favour. Do not write music-related texts or documents on your own unless you really, really know how to do this! In any other case, have somebody write these for you (or at least show your writings to somebody) who is specialised in this field. You may be wonderful as performers, but I recently made so many encounters with poorly written, awkward, or even embarrassing texts authored by musicians that I cannot suppress this plea. So if you need professional assistance with your CV, concert announcement, work introduction, liner notes, or texts for your website: Please do let me know! I’ll be more than happy to help you.
Guitar and marimba pieces
The repertoire for guitar and marimba duo is not what you would call a cornucopia (no horns involved, naturally). However, I made a contribution. Guitarists and percussionists are invited to have a look at my composition At the Forest Verge which is now finished and typeset, consisting of four short pieces inspired by my favourite trees and their specifically-shaped leaves. You can download the sheet music here on my IMSLP page.
Music Theory Faculty Concert
Dear folks, I’ll have the considerable pleasure to perform two of my own compositions in a faculty concert next Friday, 10 February, 7:30 pm, at Joseph Joachim hall, Berlin University of the Arts. As the opener to a versatile programme including viola d’amore, jazz vocals, and improvisations on Schubert, my piano cycle Children’s Kaleidoscope will experience its first complete performance, along with the sombre November Lament (yes, still not matching the month of presentation). Admission is free—it’d be so much of a delight if you joined the audience!
Lied and Recitation Concert
Cordial invitation to a noteworthy concert at the Berlin University of the Arts, Joseph Joachim hall, on Saturday, 28 January, 7 pm: We’ll take the term Recital seriously and confront a German Lieder programme with recitations of the corresponding poems. Students from the voice classes of professors Julie Kaufmann and Elisabeth Werres will be performing a colourful variety of songs, including two of my own compositions, while my colleague Alwin Müller-Arnke declaims Goethe, Heine, Rilke, and George, accompanied by some lofty introductions from my lips. Admission is free—do pay us a visit!