Here we curate works of Universal Edition's new composers

New UE composers and works

Les Mains Nues by David Chaillou played by Moises Fernandez Via

A Dark Arteries Suite. Performed by the Tredegar Town Band, conducted by Ian Porthouse

A Dark Arteries Suite

Georg Streuber-Chraniuk, baritone
Markus Syperek, piano

The 'Kaddish' prayer is one of the central and best-known texts within Judaism. It is considered as a Jewish Prayer for the Dead and for Mourners and is recited at Jewish funerals as well as at the anniversaries of a death or at memorial events. Death and Mourning do not as such appear in the text; the Aramaic and Hebrew words speak more of a glorification of God and God's forthcoming Kingdom - words which should traditionally provide comfort for the mourners and strengthen them for their continuing lives.

The Kaddish has however also  a further function and is recited more frequently in traditional Jewish services; here it serves always as a division between different sections of the service text, as the conclusion of a reflection or meditation, and also as a form of transition and division between different themes. Special about the Kaddish is that it may only be used in a liturgical context when there is a 'Minyan' present, a quorum of at least ten Jewish adult males. 

Max Doehleman has now set this multi-layered traditional mourning song with the methodology of a Lied. The basic mood is melancholy, as is appropriate to the main theme - the setting should however not illustrate total hopelessness; the listener should instead experience a communication direct to the soul despite all the sense of loss and sorrow. A Kaddish that (as the prayer text itself indicates) reflects also the continuity of life and the cycle of arrival and departure. As well as the moment of grief the music can also beas an expression of transition or change.

Max Doehlemann: Kaddisch

This piece is the second in a trilogy of works reflecting the life and work of the nature poet John Clare. In particular, it concerns his prose work 'Journey out of Essex' which describes his long walk home from an asylum in Epping Forest, and the music is an essay on the process of slowing music down (reflecting the poet's growing tiredness) and the need to maintain dramatic intensity (mimicking the poet's anxiety of returning home).

Shadows of Memory

Radmila Bocev, violina / violin
Božo Banović, klavir / piano

Recorded in 2007

Sheet music available at https://www.universaledition.com/en/Works/Robots/P0213639

Roboti / Robots

This chamber piece for large mixed ensemble is part of a series of pieces that I have embarked upon which reflect upon the intense feelings that I experienced when discovering that my mother had passed away. Reading the poem by Emily Dickenson reminded me of that emotional experience, from the extraordinary first moment to the time when "nerves sit ceremonious". The piece mirrors the poem in some ways, from taking the first words "After great pain" and trying to put into musical time the human experience of the moment, to the more reflective aspects, "the stupor - then the letting go". The scoring reflects the dark moods in the text, so the use of three bass clarinets and three cellos, together with cor anglais, provide possibilities for discovering sounds that are symbolic of a range of expression, and the plucked instruments of harp and classical guitar can similarly add their own biting or mellow sound worlds.

Hour of Lead

For Flute, Clarinet in Bb, piano, violin, cello

Unknown album (7/4/2016 2:41:3

Reverie(2014) Op.7  Mohammadreza Azin

Composed by Juan Arroyo and played by Omar Nicho.
Live at Quipu 2019, Paris

1. Evil Man

Freelance contemporary 'Classical' composer; lives in West Wales; interested in all the arts.

Shadows of Memory

Brian E Noyes

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