Wald for Ensemble was composed by Hans Abrahamsen in 2008-09. Co-commission by the Schönberg Ensemble and BBC for Birmingham Contemporary Music Group.Programme NoteWald is in a way a series of variations from the beginning of my woodwind quintet Walden (1978). This thematical idea is very simple - a rising call of a fourth and the response in other voices. This idea is repeated several times but because the call has a slower pulse than the responses the process leads to them changing order.In Walden I borrowed the title from the Americanphilosopher Henry David Thoreau who in the middle of the eighteenth century in a little wooden hermit house at the bank of the lake Walden pond wrote the book Walden of his life and time in the forests. Here he experimented living for two years in order to come closer to nature and to see if it was possible to live simply without all the unnecessary needs created by society. The book is filled with poetry but is also cutting and critical of society. In my piece Walden I tried to search for the same simplicity handling the most simple material but at the same time trying not to lose the poetry.Wald is a twin piece to Walden but also to my former piece Schnee.Robert Schumann wrote in 1848-49 a wonderful piano piece Waldszenen. He wrote this collection of short pieces with beautiful titles like Einsame Blumen Vogel als Prophet and also Jäger auf der Lauer just a few years before Thoreau wrote his book Walden. For them the forest is the magical romantic place that gives a spiritual insight to man but also from where we get our food through hunting. For me the forest still has this magical quality and Wald has scenes with a hunting horn that calls (I many years ago played the magical 'Waldhorn' and remember playing in the forest near my home) flocks of birds that when agitated take

Check out this hot swinger from John Dilkey. It moves tastefully several times between a heavy shuffle beat and a straight-ahead swing tempo. A pulsating triplet feel drives this one all the way. John has thrown in a couple of key changes near the end to push the shout chorus even higher. It's definitely a sure-fire winner!

Alice In Wonderland is a score in three main sections inspired by a short film of the same name from 1903 by Hepworth and Stow. For Flute Clarinet Violin Cello and Piano. Composed and published 2015. Duration: 9' Written for The New Music Players and Orchestra of Sound and Light for concerts in London and Sussex with funding support from The RVW Trust and Arts Council England. Premiere: Rowland Sutherland (Flute) Fiona Cross (Clarinet) Katie Stillman (Violin) Michael Atkinson (Cello) Richard Casey (Piano) University of Sussex 24th September 2015.

Here is a riff-based selection in the classic big band tradition. Reminiscent of the popular hot dance music of the ‘40s this chart is guaranteed to please (and maybe even crowd the dance floor!). There is plenty of room here for your best soloists to stretch out (and optional solos are provided). A series of ever intensifying riffs keep building to the end making this one cook all the way. Outstanding!

Michael Brown has given this time-honored spiritual new life with this fresh arrangement. It feels like a Blues Brothers two-beat swing chart all the way. There's a short 4-bar repeated solo section that you can open up for any soloist. A hard-driving swinger!