Name: Kaddisch from from Deux mélodies hébraiques by Maurice Ravel arranged by David Bruce by davidbruce in David Bruce
Duration: 5 min 59 s
Description: Kaddisch from from Deux mélodies hébraiques by Maurice Ravel arranged by David Bruce

David Bruce

Thomas Feng, piano

April 23, 2021
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Milton Babbitt – About Time

Short permutational piece, written in 2021 while sitting on Greenland Pier in Surrey Quays, London.

Bassoon: Daria Phillips
Piano: Matt Geer

Greenland (bassoon and piano, 2021)

Performed live by the Zöllner-Roche Duo at Unerhörte Musik in Berlin, Germany on November 9, 2021.

www.unerhoerte-musik.de
www.zoellner-roche.com

Commissioned by Gaudeamus Muziekweek for their 2021 festival.

Program Note:
The concept for this piece comes from The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows, a collection of words invented by John Koenig that “aims to fill a hole in the [English] language—to give a name to emotions we all might experience but don’t yet have a word for.” The title for this piece comes from the definition for “silience.”

This word is something I felt deeply following the King Soopers shooting in my town of Boulder, Colorado on March 22nd 2021. I remember that day vividly, as I was receiving my first COVID vaccination while the shooter was active at the grocery store down the road. As our community grieved the loss of ten lives, I witnessed an incredible spirit and strength in those around me. I was amazed by my students–by their ability to face the weight of this tragedy, and their ability to hold space for others. I truly believe that community, our collective strength and care, is the highest form of excellence human-kind has to offer. And while we're here: ban guns. 

silience, n. the kind of unnoticed excellence that carries on around you every day, unremarkably—the hidden talents of friends and coworkers, the fleeting solos of subway buskers, the slapdash eloquence of anonymous users, the unseen portfolios of aspiring artists—which would be renowned as master- pieces if only they’d been appraised by the cartel of popular taste, who assume that brilliance is a rare and precious quality, accidentally overlooking buried jewels that may not be flawless but are still somehow perfect.

The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows: silience (2021) // Zöllner-Roche Duo Live

vadimpetrenko.bandcamp.com/track/waltz…f-execution
emilia loseva: poetry, visual, cover

vadimpetrenko: music, guitar, digital touch tools: generator, pianos, keyboards, e-contrabass, bass, e-clarinet, strings, brass, drums, percussion, chinese erhu, chinese lute /pipa/, koto, guzheng, chinese kit, taiko

В конце концов, мы все из себя
представляем объедки,
и наши антилопьи кости,
сожранные в темноте, далеко от дома,
наши конечности и черепные коробки,
притащенные в логово хищника,
заполнят осадочные породы,
в совиных катышах истлеют,
а мы уйдём с места казни, 
ископаемые, как новенькие

Waltz Romance For The Invention Of Roses-And We Will Leave The Place Of Execution 2

Nr. 53 (Trödelmarkt)

In 1906 Tom and Henry Clough played for the king and queen at Alnwick Castle. Recently a silver medal turned up, presumably presented to Henry Clough to mark that occasion.  I felt it deserved a tune too.  Pipes made by Tom Clough and Fred Picknell.

Piping Fit for a King (working title)

Thomas Feng, piano
recorded live, April 27, 2023
Barnes Hall, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Aria is a re-imagination of a Baroque adagio movement. I aim to capture a sense of suspended / eternal time that is at once past, present, and future – time (or its lack thereof) can be another “place” listeners are transported to through music. – Sam Wu (@sam-wu-5)

Sam Wu – Aria (LIVE; premiere)

The North Wind was a Woman. Dawn Upshaw, Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center

The North Wind was a Woman

Kaddisch from from Deux mélodies hébraiques by Maurice Ravel arranged by David Bruce

Update 28/03/2016: selected for Piano Day 2016 playlist :-)
https://soundcloud.com/nils_frahm/sets/piano-day-2016-playlist

Some years ago (circa 2001) I wrote this piano piece based on evocative verse by Emily Bronte

“And from the midst of cheerless gloom
I passed to bright unclouded day.” 



Nubi Di Un Mare Lontano - Clouds over a distant sea

"Albumblatt" in the Style of Mendelssohn

A permutational piece written for piano in January 2021 about finger positions on the piano.

Matt Geer, piano.

Positions (piano, 2021)

Born in Stamford, Connecticut in 1970, David Bruce grew up in England and now enjoys a growing reputation on both sides of the Atlantic. In the US, his third Carnegie Hall commission Steampunk (2011), follows Piosenki (2006), and Gumboots (2008) which have both gone on to be widely performed by leading ensembles around the world. His song-cycle The North Wind was a Woman was commissioned by the Lincoln Center for Dawn Upshaw for the gala opening of the Chamber Music Society of the Lincoln Center's 2009 season. In the UK, Bruce has a new chamber opera in development with the Opera Group and the Royal Opera House's ROH2, based on Philip Pullman's story The Firework Maker's Daughter. He was also recently selected as one of 20 leading composers chosen to represent the UK as part of the Cultural Olympiad 20x12 initiative.

Bruce's music draws inspiration from folk-traditions from around the world. He particularly enjoys collaborating with musicians who have strong connections with both classical and folk/world traditions, such as accordionist Michael Ward-Bergeman, mandolinist Avi Avital and clarinettist David Orlowsky. In August 2011 Bruce will be collaborating with world-renowned violinist Daniel Hope, the David Orlowsky Trio and cellist Vincent Segal on a new co-commission inspired by Irish folk music from the Mecklenberg-Vorpommern festival, Germany and the Savannah Festival, USA. In 2012 he will be collaborating with Yo Yo Ma's Silk Road Project on a new commission. Bruce also enjoys close working relationships with some of the finest musicians of the younger generation including Ensemble ACJW; harpist Bridget Kibbey; the grammy-nominated Metropolis Ensemble in New York; Chroma in the UK; and Art of Elan in San Diego (whose commission The Eye of Night was premiered in Jan 2011 and will shortly be recorded).

Bruce's work in opera has also attracted considerable attention. A series of short operas for Tete a Tete in London culminated in the Genesis Foundation commission Push! (2006) which was Critic's Choice for 2006 in both The Telegraph and Classical Music Magazine and received universal critical acclaim. In 2008, Dawn Upshaw instigated the commission for his one-act opera A Bird in Your Ear (2008) for Bard College, NY. After its successful premiere the opera has had performances by New York City Opera as part of the 2009 VOX festival; as a finalist in the National Opera Association's Chamber Opera competition 2008; and with students at NYU. The New York Times said the opera, "rich with imagined folk tunes, undulant accompaniment patterns and vibrant choral writing, is delicate, tartly tonal and lucidly orchestrated."

Bruce's music has attracted numerous awards and prizes, including the Lili Boulanger Memorial Prize (2008) and the Royal Philharmonic Society Composition Competition (1994). He studied at Nottingham University, the Royal College of Music, London, (with Tim Salter and George Benjamin); and completed a PhD in Composition at King's College, London (1995-9), under the supervision of Sir Harrison Birtwistle.

Complementing his work as a composer, Bruce runs the music and technology company Red Balloon Technology Ltd whose sites include the popular sheet music site 8notes.com and the composers' site CompositionToday. 

Kaddisch from from Deux mélodies hébraiques by Maurice Ravel arranged by David Bruce

davidbruce

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