some of my own works for chamber music, solo, orchestra....
if you want to purchase scores of my pieces for performance, please contact me via www.renehirschfeld.de

Composer

Sonett III for double quartet, piano and marimba, written 1986, revised 2020; live concert perfromance with Ensemble United Berlin, conductor Christoph Breidler. www.unitedberlin.de
Score @ Verlag Neue Musik Berlin

cover based on a painting from Korvin Reich (excerpt)

Sonett III for ensemble

"Vokalise" für Vokalsextett - Auftragswerk des Mitteldeutschen Rundfunks. Aufnahme mit Mitgliedern des mdr - Rundfunkchores

Vokalise

Premiered by Rever saxophone quartet at the MDW Universität für Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien
May 2022

converto.io

Carousel for saxophone quartet and electronics, 2017

better with headphones!

2 clar, 2 sax, 2 trb, 3 perc, pno, acc, e-guit, 2 cello, 2 cb, metallic resonators & spatialization

DAIC ensemble from CNSMDP
Franck Ollu, cond.

18/03/22, Conservatoire de Paris CNSMDP
mix : J.-B. Nirascou
photo © B. Champeaux

Organum (2021-22) | 16 instruments & elec.

Waldgesang - Concerto for oboe, strings and percussion; live performance of Celine Moinet (oboe) and the Elbland Philharmonie Sachsen, conductor Ekkehard Klemm. sheet music: www.verlag-neue-musik.de

Waldgesang

Waldgesang - concerto for oboe, strings and percussion

...in einem Licht - 3 sacred songs for choir after poetry by Hammerskjöld, Silesius, Korvin Reich und H. von Bingen.
live concert recording at Gesellschaftshaus Magdeburg
ensemble vocal modern, conductor: Christfried Brödel
Picture: Painting from Korvin Reich
Lyrics:
I.
Verblassender Buchen Licht / vor Wolkens Dunkel./ Wind reibt des Waldtümpels/
Wasser stahlgrau./ Zwischen der Erde Blutspur dort / läuft die Hirschfährte./
Die Stille bricht durch /des Herzens Panzer, / lässt es nackt vor des / Herbstes Klarheit. (Dag Hammarskjöld, Übersetzung: C. R. Hirschfeld)
Wie der Ton / einer Glocke / sich verliert / steigt / inmitten / der Gedanken/ die Sonne / des Erwachens. (Korvin Reich)
II.
Gott wohnt in einem Licht, / zu dem die Bahn gebricht. / Wer es nicht selber wird, / der sieht es ewig nicht. / Ich selbst muss Sonne sein, / ich muss mit meinen Strahlen / das farbenlose Meer / der ganzen Gottheit malen. (Angelus Silesius)
III.
Von der Tiefe bis hoch zu den Sternen durchflutet Liebe das All. (Hildegard von Bingen)
Jeden Moment / Auge in Auge / mit dieser Liebe, / die alles sieht, / doch nachsieht / in Geduld, / die das Recht ist / doch nicht richtet, / wenn unser Blick / spiegelt den ihren / in Demut. (Dag Hammarskjöld, Übersetzung: C. R. Hirschfeld)

...in einem Licht

Sutra

Written for the Crossing Choir's 2022 album "Carols After a Plague," this composition is by no means a joyful "carol," in the traditional sense. Rather, it is a contemplative work that I feel deals with the question of what exactly are we referring to when we speak of "the plague" in the context of this very critical time (the year 2020, and up to the present). Is this "plague" limited to the COVID 19 pandemic we are still experiencing? Are we only making work about this pandemic only, or (speaking for myself and for my culture) perhaps the centuries old pandemic of white supremacy in America and in Europe?

Perhaps, while listening, we shall thusly consider first the continued feeling of being confined in isolation; the despair and frustration that we experienced as a result of social distancing, and the everyday precarity of life as an artist for those who are struggling. Furthermore, we shall examine the uptick in physical and gun violence as it concerns not only racism, but sexism, homophobia, and religious fanaticism, among many other civil strifes. Not to mention the threat of eviction, the separation of migrant familes through deportation and other means, homelessness, climate change, and so on... This composition is a direct response to all of the above.

Carols after a Plague

Requiem for a Plague

Ensemble Intercontemporain

Martin Adámek – bass clarinet
Julia Sinoimeri – XAMP microtonal accordion
Aurélien Gignoux – percussion
Vincent Desille – e-guitar
Nicolò Umberto Foron – cond.

01/12/2023, Conservatoire de Paris CNSMDP
rec & mix: Lucas Bergeret

photo: B.Champeaux

Poem Code (2023) | Ensemble Intercontemporain

Meditation No.1

This is a composition I kind of lost myself in. The inspiration, as well as the title, comes from a poem by Rainer Maria Rilke titled "You Said Live".

Fractured Rings

This is the recording of the world premiere of my piano concerto "NACHT.WACHEN.". It was played in the Technikmuseum Hugo Junkers in Dessau, Germany, on July 14th 2025 by pianist Joshua Rupley and the Kyiv Symphony Orchestra under the baton of Francesco Cagnasso.
The work has 5 movements:
I. serale, II. fremente, eccitato, III. lamentoso, IV. adagio rubato, quasi recitando, V. luminoso, ampio

NACHT.WACHEN. - concerto for piano and orchestra

3 Sätze für Viola solo (3 Movements for viola solo) from C. René Hirschfeld (composed in 2012):
espressivo - molto vivo - tranquillo
played by the composer himself

3 Movements for viola solo

First performed and recorded in Wells Cathedral, 18 October 2018
Jeremy Cole | organ

Preview/purchase score: www.barnabymartin.com/partials

Partials was written for organist Jeremy Cole for first performance as part of new music wells 78-18. The piece is based on the harmonic series on C and uses an accompanying tape which gradually builds up the harmonics series, starting with the lowest possible note on the organ and slowly adding all of the harmonics/partials. 

Listen to the tape part: https://soundcloud.com/barnaby-martin/partials-tape
Download the tape part: www.barnabymartin.com/partials

Partials

Gorzow Philharmonic Orchestra performing live the 7th Symphony by Beethoven under Piotr Borkowski conducting. September 2011.

L. van Beethoven - 7th Symphony 1st mov.

L. van Beethoven - 7th Symphony 2nd mov.

C. René Hirschfeld: composer.
I am writing contemporary music (chamber music , symphonic, vocal music, electronic, ballet and opera). I live as a freelance in the beautyfull little city Wernigerode in the middle of Germany.

Sonett III for ensemble

C. René Hirschfeld

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