Gregor Urban live at Kammermusikprojekt Transdanube 2019

Hans Abrahamsen (*1952): Rivière d'oubli(1998; 10 Studies for Piano)

Live beim Kammermusikprojekt Transdanube 2021,
Gregor Urban, Klavier

Cl. Debussy: Canope (Nr.10 Preludes pour Piano II, 1912/13)

Gregor Urban live beim Kammermusikprojekt Transdanube 2019

Stefan Höll (*1974): Sturm (aus „Traum und Sturm“, 2000)

Diamond Dust is a type of cloud that consists of tiny ice crystals, which creates a meteorological phenomenon commonly found in the Antarctica and the Arctic. A visual display of optical marvels resembling falling glitter are present due to the diamond dust crystal’s well-defined hexagonal shapes and can, like a prism, refract light in specific directions. The piece itself consists of fast cycling pitch patterns in the piano to create a delicate textural sound world to resemble the fragility of the drifting ice crystals. There is a focus on resonance, as the span of ringing notes evolves throughout until it is eventually created by a single consonant chord. A dampened figure emerges out of this resonant texture each time until at the end it is the only entity remaining. The clarinet seeks to create an underlying presence throughout the piece acting as an aid to the piano, however it occasionally breaks free and they unite to create an ethereal sound landscape.

Diamond Dust II for clarinet and prepared piano performed by Marcus Norman and Aaron Breeze.
Recording from BBC Radio 3 Live in Concert, Young Artists Day Concert from the RNCM 04/05/15

Diamond Dust II (2015) [BBC Radio 3]

‘The Rosy Hearth’ is a short work, which sets words from Paul Verlaine for solo tenor voice and piano. The poem describes a bittersweet scene in which the narrator reflects over the closing of the day when he can finally relax and dream. However, the piece almost acts as a lamentation of the words due to the chromatic undertones throughout the work whilst also resembling a more traditional art song.

Commissioned for the Royal Northern College of Music ‘Day of Song’ Festival 12/06/16
Tenor: Ranald McCusker
Piano: Elin Rees

The Rosy Hearth (2016)

‘KINTSUKUROI:(Golden Repair)’ is a short orchestral work based on a Japanese form of pottery art in which broken pottery is mended back together with Gold instead of glue. This creates individual, fragile golden seams across the pot as they naturally occurred. In this piece, fleeting and delicate lines encircle the opening above a dark, undulating texture that builds until it suddenly breaks, which resembles the shattering of the pot. We are then placed into a constant and iridescent soundworld reflecting the intentions of the art form; it has been made more beautiful by having been broken.

Performed by RNCM Brand New Orchestra (13/10/16) conducted by Manoj Kamps.

KINTSUKUROI: (Golden Repair) (2016)

Jin-Xiang Yu, Soprano
Yale Philharmonia
Lyrics by Sokunthary Svay

Liliya Ugay, Morning Call

Live recording of the 3rd movement of "Widows of the Living and of the Dead", concerto for Gaita and orchestra, commissioned by Cristina Pato with support from New Music USA.

Sphinx Symphony Orchestra, Cristina Pato, gaita, conducted by Andrew Grams

Watch on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?list=PL00AA0816C9DACAFC&v=5kJWJwT47gM

Widows of the Living and of the Dead, 3rd movement

Wald is a chamber music piece for harp, violin, violoncello, doublebase and piano describing the sphere of a natural forest in high montains.

Wald (2015/2019). Fsg2. Studio

This short piece of music emphasizes the situation of being in some dim woodland, recognizing a distant forest glade and moving over into it, beeing overwhelmed by the experience of sunlight there and the variety of natural sounds pervading and surrounding this place.
The structure of the music is built from motifs of another, comissioned, work of mine which merges rock/pop music elements with such of „classical“ music (and also ends, symbolistic, in a forest´s glade) as well as from a main motif of my chamber music work „Wald“ („The Woods“, 2015).
The main idea of this work has been to represent the mental epiphany of achieving a place of emotional enlightening.

Lichtung (2017/18; version with electronics by Stefan Höll, studio release

composer and pianist living in Vienna, Austria

Lichtung (2017/18; version with electronics by Stefan Höll, studio release

Gregor Urban

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