SKU: HL.48025274

ISBN 9798350101249. UPC: 196288157748.

Zibuokle Martinaityte tells about the background of Aletheia (2022) for mixed choir (SSSSAAAATTTTBBBB):“Aletheia is variously translated from Greek as 'unconcealedness', 'revealing' or 'unclosedness'. It is uncovering of the Truth - the one we are afraid to face, the truth that can only be expressed directly through the pre-verbal communication. How do you find words for the horrors of the war, for all unimaginable global atrocities? How do you even allow yourself to feel it out? Solely through art, through music that offer a safe space and a formalized framework for processing these accumulated complex emotions and sharing them with others in a moment. This piece has no verbal text and it is based on various combinations of vowels and consonants, thus connecting us on a deeper level through the immediate emotional experience. The work is commissioned by the Lithuanian National Radio (LRT Klasika) The war in Ukraine in spring of 2022 had an impact on all of us and shattered my deeply rooted Lithuanian identity. When the freedomis threatened and innocent people are dying, it is hard to make sense out of the reality.Yet there is poetry even in the worst nightmares. I was imagining that the only instrument people have even in situations of destruction, in the midst of the war, is their VOICE. It brought back memories of my youth when 'Singing revolution' was taking place in the Baltic countries. Human voice was the only weapon that people used to express their determination for freedom and independence. Voice is our first and the very last instrument we have in our lifetime. Thinking in these terms brings almost a sacred dimension to the voice as an expression of the life itself - from the very first baby's scream until the last breath and whisper.” Duration c. 15' The works of New York -based Lithuanian composer Zibuokle Martinaityte (b. 1973) have been lauded as breathtaking and profoundly moving. Her stimulating music bristles with energy and tension and revolves often around the subject of beauty, which she calls botha guiding principle and an aesthetic measure for sonic quality.

SKU: HL.49016720

ISBN 9790001144209. UPC: 884088991258. 9.0x12.0x0.056 inches. German.

Football (resp. soccer) has been fascinating for many contemporary composers - maybe because of the unpredictable dramaturgy within a match, the complexity of different combinations, contrasts or complements between different strategies, the soloist-like position of extraordinary players - in short, there are numerous connections to musical ideas.Zeitlupen (Slow-motion replays) reflects football on different layers. The cycle consists of three interlocking parts: four poems from Gottfried Blumenstein's 11 Haikus vom Fussballfeld form the musical core, to which three pantomime-actions with piano accompaniment, showing characteristic situations, are added. (This idea is based on a kind of a slow-motion-soccer, using a balloon instead of a football, that I used to play with my brother in our room, when the weather not allowed to go outside for a match on the playground nearby. The similarity towards far-eastern meditational techniques of these pantomimes also forms a connection to the haiku form of the poems.) The piece is completed by two recitations recalling famous teams and the best and (maybe) worst from german football history: the world champions from 1954 and the team of the unbearable put-up game against Austria during the world championship of 1982. This part also refers to a well-known poem by Peter Handke, Die Aufstellung des 1. FC Nurnberg vom 27. 1. 1968.Behind that, playing with numbers has been important for the structure. The form of the haiku (5-7-5 syllables), a symmetric all-interval-series and many other elements are taken from the number of 12 (eleven players and their coach). Gesture and sound-colours of the piano part are economical but precise; towards the ending percussive sounds dominate it. Directly illustrative moments - like the rhythm of cheers call in Nr. IV - are rather exceptional. The altogether form follows the labyrinthical structure of Pierre Boulez' Le marteau sans maitre, written around the famous year of 1954...Benjamin Schweitzer.