SCHANDE was composed in response to events in Dresden on 9 November 2020, the 82nd anniversary of the infamous November Pogroms (also known as 'Kristallnacht') in Nazi Germany. A commemorative event had been cancelled by the authorities on account of the coronavirus pandemic. However, these same authorities allowed a demonstration by the far right group Pegida. The word 'Schande' means ‘shame’.

Nathan Watts, cello
Recorded by Will Overcash for Tempus Konnex

SCHANDE (solo cello, 2020)

Contemporary Insights Ensemble, conducted by Zach Seely
Festival des Zentrums für Gegenwartsmusik, Leipzig, 16 June 2022

Rules of Engagement (2013-2019)
This cycle of three works focuses on Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip in the winter of 2008/9, commonly referred to as Operation Cast Lead. 

1. Hora’ot Pticha Be’esh (2013)
Fixed media
2. Al-Shifa (2014)
String quartet and fixed media
3. Sumud (2019)
Ensemble

The title of the third piece, Sumud, refers to the principle of steadfastness that has come to play a special part in the Palestinian ethos of resistance, be it overt political or military resistance or simply the everyday resistance of going about one’s life despite the suffering inflicted by the occupation. This piece uses a large ensemble and loosely takes up some of the pre-recorded sounds from the first piece, adapting them to a live setting. As in the second piece, these are references to certain sound worlds rather than actual quotations; a microtonally-tuned guitar mirrors the pre-recorded oud sounds, while the accumulation of percussion sounds and reed textures are taken up and given a new physical presence in the live situation. The principle of sumud manifests itself in the music’s insistence and ultimate distillation of expressive focus from conflict and unease.

The overall direction of the cycle, then, is away from concrete documentation and towards musical sublimation, towards something that is separate from the horrors of Cast Lead despite issuing from them. When I first arrived at this conception, I was slightly disturbed by what could be perceived as a de-politicisation, as a disappearance of the real world in the aesthetic. In the meantime, however, I have reached the position that despite the powerlessness of such music to counteract the ongoing ordeals of Palestinians, it is more meaningful – as long as one operates in the realm of art rather than direct activism – to attempt a transcendence of horror towards something that offers a trace of autonomy. In this respect, it is important that the cycle begins with Hebrew and ends with an Arabic title; although the soldier’s testimony is vital evidence, the voice of the occupier should not be granted the last word, and despite the victimisation of Palestinians in Gaza and elsewhere, they must not be reduced to mere victims. That is the ultimate message of the cycle.

https://wielandhoban.wordpress.com/2020/03/06/the-rules-of-engagement-cycle/

Sumud (Rules of Engagement III) (2019, large ensemble)

Dejana Sekulić, violin
Video by Dejana Sekulić

Buseh (solo violin, 2022)

Mauricio Galeano, 10-string guitar
Grow String Quartet:
William Overcash, violin
Mishi Stern, violin
Nefeli Galani, viola
Nathan Watts, cello

Recorded on 10 February 2023 at Alte Seilerei, Frankfurt

Twisted Arrows (10-string guitar & string quartet, 2022)

This is the audio-only version of a piece for ensemble and a typing translator who translates pre-recorded text excerpts in English and German which are played in random order at certain points in the piece; the text is projected onto a screen. For this version, the video layer has been replaced by additional audio elements. The work was premiered in its original form at the Darmstadt Summer Course on 9 August 2016, by the composer and Hand Werk + guests.

Subkutane Kontroversen (Radio Version)(2015, for translator, fixed media & ensemble)

Performed by ensemble recherche and:
Bea Anton
Gabriela Mossyrsch
Gunnhildur Einarsdóttir
Julia Weissbarth

Donaueschinger Musiktage, 16 October 2016

Urðarbrunnr (2016, 4 harps & ensemble)

Diego Castro Magaš, guitar
Recorded in Santiago de Chile on 8 August 2017

Knokler (2009/16, solo classical guitar)

Kairos Quartett

Wolfgang Bender & Stefan Häussler, violins
Simone Heilgendorff, viola
Claudius von Wrochem, cello

Unerhörte Musik, Berlin, 20 February 2018

Named after Al-Shifa Hospital, Gaza City, where the Norwegian doctors Mads Gilbert and Erik Fosse worked during Operation Cast Lead; they described their experiences in the book Eyes In Gaza (London: Quartet, 2010).

Al - Shifa (Rules Of Engagement II) (2014, string quartet and fixed media)

Written on the occasion of Ian Pace's 50th birthday.
Performed by the dedicatee at City University, London on 20 May 2018

Whiptail (2017, solo piano)

Nico Couck, fretless electric guitar
Ensemble Interface, conducted by Maurice Donnet-Monnay
Transit Festival Leuven, 19 October 2019

Twisted Arrows (10-string guitar & string quartet, 2022)

Wieland Hoban