So warm and nostalgic. It's like a cry for the love of the past

Week 4 ( أهواك فى قربك وفى بعدك )

Commissioned by the Boston New Music Initiative as the Call for Scores winner of the Commissioning Competition. 

Premiered on May 22, Lexington, MA.

This is Scene 3 from the opera "Through the Doors".

Music and Libretto by Ania Vu.

Conductor - John Masko
Soprano - Mary Mackenzie
Flute - Deirdre Viau
Clarinet - David Dziardziel
Violin - Arjun Mudan
Violoncello -Stephen Mortarotti
Percussion - Matt Sharrock
Piano - Shalun Li

Image by Modesta Gorol

Strange Birds for soprano, flute, clarinet, violin, cello, percussion, and piano (2022)

Composer Kian Ravaei and pianist Brandon Zhou release their debut EP Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing, a collection of piano pieces inspired by mythical creatures. Each movement spotlights the mythology of a different culture, from European folklore and Ancient Greek legend to Persian fable, reflecting the composer’s multifaceted identity as an American-born child of Iranian immigrants. Zhou brings his vast emotional range and technical skill to Ravaei’s colorful piano writing.

“The Sprite” portrays a nimble and mischievous fairy from European folklore. “The Siren” brings to mind the creatures from Homer’s Odyssey who lure sailors to their death with their enchanting singing voices. “The Sphinx” conjures up the mercilessly riddling creature of ancient Egyptian mythology. “The Simurgh” represents the enormous, benevolent bird from Persian mythology, who symbolizes rebirth. “The Sea Serpent” evokes a sinuous serpent who drags sailors to the depths of the ocean. “The Shadhahvar” depicts a legendary deer whose antlers create music when held in the wind, like an Aeolian harp.

The piece takes its name from Zakariya al-Qazwini’s thirteenth-century cosmographical treatise, containing descriptions of every living thing in existence, including many creatures which we may now consider mythological. Ravaei and Zhou began collaborating on this project while students at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, refining the twenty-minute work over a span of two years.

Composed by Kian Ravaei
Brandon Zhou, piano

Recorded May 2022, Los Angeles, CA
Produced by Kian Ravaei and Brandon Zhou
Engineered, mixed, and mastered by Steve Kaplan

Album art by Fiona Hsu

Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing: VI. The Shadhahvar

Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing: V. The Sea Serpent

Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing: IV. The Simurgh

Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing: III. The Sphinx

Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing: II. The Siren

Marvels of Creatures and Strange Things Existing: I. The Sprite

Inspired by the Mamluk Minarets of Cairo.

Brendan Grossman, Alto Saxophone
Mohamed-Aly Farag, Violin
Jacob Barker, Cello
Gavin Laur, Piano

The Minarets (2019)

ãä ãßÊÈÉ ÇãÍãÏ ÔÚÈÇä ÇáÛäÇÆíÉ

بعيد عنك ..حياتي عذاب  #ثومة

اهواك في قربك في بعدك
من غنوة انت الحب الحان الاستاذ محمد عبد الوهاب 
توزيع وغناء محمد سواح
ربابات امير سمير

Cover By Mohamed Sawwah اهواك في قربك في بعدك

لو كانت هناك حياة أخرى لتمنيت أن تصير كل مرة نلتقي فيها... أبدية.

تأليف: سان ماو
ترجمة: مي عاشور
إلقاء صوتي: ابتهال محمد

لو كانت هناك حياة أخرى

We never say goodbye, we just stop trying to say hello

You're So Cool

Chimera (2017, flute and piano)
Conor Nelson, flute; Thomas Rosenkranz, piano
For more information, visit:
http://mikelkuehn.com/index.php/works/83-work-sample/189-chimera

Chimera (2017, flute and piano)

"Persephone" (2019) for orchestra
by Patrick Holcomb

Indiana University Concert Orchestra
David Dzubay, conductor

Recorded November 19-20, 2019
Musical Arts Center, Indiana University Jacobs School of Music

"Persephone" © 2019 by N. Patrick Holcomb. All rights reserved.

Program Note:

Persephone (2019) is a reinterpretation of the Greek myth of Persephone, the goddess who was abducted by Hades and subsequently forced to spend a portion of each year with him in the underworld. The work was born out of my attempt to imagine Persephone seeing her reflection in each of the six rivers visible from the underworld on her annual journey into Hades.

The piece begins on the shore of the Oceanus, the river-sea that separates the worlds of the living and the dead. Persephone (represented here by the alto flute and the bassoon) cries out in anguish as she awaits her return to the underworld for the coming months. The towering but distant voice of her mother, the powerful goddess Demeter (represented here by the oboe and the bass clarinet), echoes Persephone’s distress back to her. As the goddesses’ voices become increasingly hysterical, Hades (represented here by the horn and the trombone) emerges from the earth, seizing Persephone and taking her in his chariot over the Oceanus and into the underworld. As they fly over the Acheron, the river of pain that marks the entrance of the underworld, Persephone sees the reflections of her and her captor distorted by the ripples caused by the oars of the ferryman Charon. The Phlegethon, the river of fire, is patrolled on both sides by centaurs who prevent the shades of the wicked from escaping the water; Persephone’s reflection stands alongside the ghosts imprisoned in the river. She sees her face contorted by rage in the turbulent waters of the Styx, the river of hatred that wraps around the underworld seven times. The dead who do not receive a proper burial spend eternity on the banks of the Cocytus, the river of wailing; similarly trapped, Persephone sees her reflection mingled with these ghosts and hears her voice echoed in their cries. The Lethe, the river of forgetfulness, passes by the cave of the sleep god Hypnos; in this river, Persephone watches herself surrender to sleep, accepting that she can do nothing to change her fate.

Persephone (2019) for orchestra

In writing this work, I wished to provide a space for all the members of the string quartet to have soloistic moments, as well as extended melodic passages, so that the whole quartet is involved and at the forefront. The first movement has strong tonal elements, while the second abandons them. Both, however, have a strong emphasis on lyricism and texture, and beyond that a certain affiliation with romanticism. The name comes from the type of wave, which happens to be the medium of sound, but besides also has a certain longingness to it. The standing wave appears in motion but is static in space—likewise there are elements in the quartet that move only within their own realm but remain static in their relation to their surroundings.

Recording by JACK Quartet | https://jackquartet.com/
Recorded at the Oktaven Audio Studio

The Minarets (2019)

Mo Farag

Recent comments

Assy Girah

user609145420

Related tracks