Hall of Ghosts

SKU: PR.114422950

ISBN 9781491134870. UPC: 680160685370.

HALL OF GHOSTS was composed in 2020 during the Covidlockdown period. Evocative of imagined spirits in an empty concert hall, the music pits dramatic silences, amid searching and plaintive phrases of the clarinet, against a lively middle section — a dialogue between the ticking of time and an instrument striving to make itself heard. The work was inspired by piccoloist Gudrun Hinze’s video for Harberg’s Prayer Project, filmed in the hauntingly empty Gewandhaus Chamber Music Hall.
Hall of Ghosts was composed in April 2020 as a “thank you” gift dedicated to the wonderful community of flutists who participated in my Prayer Project – a virtual flute orchestra project that I produced during the Covid-19 lockdown period. In July 2021, I arranged Hall of Ghosts for clarinetist Christopher Pell, who premiered the new version at the Interlochen Center for the Arts.Hall of Ghosts was inspired by piccoloist Gudrun Hinze, who recorded her part for the Prayer Project in the empty Gewandhaus Chamber Music Hall. This hall would normally be full of musicians rehearsing and performing, but now, due to Covid-19, the hall lay empty and filled only with echoes and memories. The image of Gudrun’s solitary piccolo inspired in me a musical invocation, imploring the spirits to let the music return.In the first section, the silence of rests and pauses creates an expressive background for the searching and plaintive phrases of the solo piccolo. The lively middle section is a contrapuntal dialogue between the ticking of time and an instrument striving to make itself heard. These materials trade off throughout the piece. You can decide through your interpretation on who wins. The music? Or the ghosts?

SKU: PR.114422230

ISBN 9781491133910. UPC: 680160683383. 9 x 12 inches.

HALL OF GHOSTS was composed in 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdown period; it was inspired by piccoloist Gudrun Hinze’s video for Harberg’s Prayer Project filmed in the hauntingly empty Gewandhaus Chamber Music Hall. Evocative of imagined spirits in the empty hall, the music pitsdramatic silences, amid searching and plaintive phrases of the piccolo, against a lively middle section – a dialogue between the ticking of time and an instrument striving to make itself heard.
HALL OF GHOSTS was composed in April 2020 as a “thank you” giftdedicated to the wonderful community of flutists who participated inmy Prayer Project – a virtual flute orchestra project that I producedduring the Covid-19 lockdown period.HALL OF GHOSTS was inspired by piccoloist Gudrun Hinze, whorecorded her part for the Prayer Project in the empty GewandhausChamber Music Hall. This hall would normally be full of musiciansrehearsing and performing, but now, due to Covid-19, the hall layempty and filled only with echoes and memories. The image of Gudrun’ssolitary piccolo inspired in me a musical invocation, imploring thespirits to let the music return.In the first section, the silence of rests and pauses creates an expressivebackground for the searching and plaintive phrases of the solo piccolo.The lively middle section is a contrapuntal dialogue between theticking of time and an instrument striving to make itself heard. Thesematerials trade off throughout the piece. You can decide through yourinterpretation on who wins. The music? Or the ghosts?— Amanda Harberg.

SKU: HL.49045437

ISBN 9790001162715. UPC: 841886029088. 9.0x12.0x0.168 inches.

On the occasion of the quincentenary of Reformation Day in 2017, the composer Enjott Schneider thoroughly studied Martin Luther the individual and all his contradictions. The result is a brilliant, demanding organ symphony which is perfect for concerts on the subject of Reformation and Martin Luther.The composer describes the five movements of the symphony as follows:'1st movement:Wir glauben all an einen Gott with its quintuplet-like beginning is very Gregorian in style, outlining the range of Lutheran emotionalism between the Middle Ages and the modern era. The irrationality of faith ultimately has priority over any thought and evidence. At the beginning of the movement, sounds of knocking on wood remind of the nailing of the Ninety-Five Theses to the doors of churches in Wittenberg. The chorale melody sometimes hides with an almost rough medieval saltarello, referring to Luther's robustness and vitality with which he knew to carry away even common people.2nd movement:In 1530, the electoral prince of Saxony presented to Luther at Coburg Castle the golden signet ring with the Luther rose which became the symbol of his theology of grace. A white heart with black cross is fixed on a five-petalled rose. To him, white is the colour of angels and ghosts, black stands for the pain of crucification: The just shall live by faith, but by faith in the Crucified. But the fact that the rose and the heart are the dominating symbols shows how Catholic Marian piety remained an ingredient of Luther's spirituality throughout his life. In line with the dominant five-petal structure of the rose, this movement was composed, to a large extent, in accordance with the floating, lyrical rhythm in 5/8 time.3rd movement:The omnipresence of death and dying - from the plague and war to the never-ending dangers of daily life - was an essential part of the world view of that time. Fears ensued that might heighten into the grotesque, e.g. in the pictures of Hieronymus Bosch. The Danse macabre was a popular motif in those years. Luther's chorale Mitten wir im Leben sind / mit dem Tod umfangen from 1524 (Enchiridion from Erfurt) is based on the Gregorian chant Media vita in morte sumus created in France around 750 and, with its idea of transience, inspired a simplistic air.4th movement:The famous confession delivered at the Diet of Worms in 1521, I stand here and can say no more. God help me. Amen, are not Luther's words but the version later used as text for a pamphlet. However, it represents quite plainly the straightforwardness and inevitability of his mission. Musically, it was made into a perpetuum mobile, i.e. a dogged, ostinato and never-ending musical air.5th movement:The Mighty Fortress, on the other hand, is one of the great symbols of Martin Luther which, with its shining C major key, embodies the Protestant ideology and willful nature of the Reformation unlike any other song. Heinrich Heine called it the Marseille anthem of the Reformation, Friedrich Engels the Marseillaise of the Peasants' Wars. This disputability is not thought through to the end but rather interrupted: With a jubilant birdcall version of the melody, the finale shows a rather chamber-music-like side of the ideals of freedom of Christians.'.