(September 2021)
Voices: Radha Akhbar & Abdul X (excerpts from the New York Times podcast 'The Daily'; interviews first aired on August 16 and 17, 2021); piano: Peer Briken

Notes on Despair

Susanne Peters - flute
September 6, 2021
DAM Festival

Mixórdia IV "transmitting" for flute (2020)

"I Will Not Remain Silent" is a violin concerto inspired by the life of Joachim Prinz, a rabbi in Berlin during the Nazi regime and later a civil rights leader in America and friend of Martin Luther King, Jr.  There are two movements. In the first movement, the orchestra represents Nazi Germany; in the second, the orchestra is America during the Civil Rights movement. The violin portrays Joachim Prinz throughout the concerto.  The two movements are on this one track. After the premiere with violinist Sharon Roffman, it was performed by Ilya Gringolts with The Human Rights Orchestra of Europe in Lucerne; it will be performed in January 2017 by violinist Daniel Hope and the Los Angeles Chamber Orchestra conducted by Jeffrey Kahane.

Adolphe   I WILL NOT REMAIN SILENT  World Premiere (version To Use)

Idioma I for cello and electronics

Feedback In Technicolor (2020)

"...pieces always have a mind of their own, and the best way to serve them is to always allow them to find their way home." (D. Fujikura) 

A MANIFESTO FOR MOMENTALIST MUSIC

(1) Music is experienced in momentary fashion, why not create it the same way?
(2) Initially, there is only blank silence. The first sound is the ’big bang’ (not necessarily a loud one); everything else are momentalistic consequences of that first sound—which is by no means special.
(3) No repetitive elements are allowed; momentalistic music should be free of (exact) repetitions. Echoes, elaborations, and reminiscences are allowed, as long as they arrive uninvited.
(4) Speech is a forgotten instrument in need of re-introduction. More than the singing voice, the talking voice never lacks emotional timbre.
(5) No formal musical training is required of momentalist composers (although it would certainly come handy), but one should be aware of their predecessors.
(6) No particular musical rules should be favored or followed, except that everything (or almost everything) is dictated by the moment.
(7) Evocative of the moment it owes its existence to, this is the sound of momentalistic music. Whatever it may, hopefully, mean to the listener.

Notes on Despair

Alex

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