Gedächtniskristalle: New Compositions for Chamber Orchestra

Featuring

Gerhard Sammer
Markus Forster
Tiroler Kammerorchester InnStrumenti
Werner Pirchner
Kurt Estermann
Arturo Fuentes

Bert Breit

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Composer's Artistic Vision

The album's title work, Gedächtniskristalle (Crystals of Memories) by Arturo Fuentes, sets a poem by Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges, exploring themes of memory, forgetting, labyrinths, eternity, time, and space.

Performer Biography

Markus Forster, the countertenor on this recording, began his concert career as an alto soloist with the Wiltener Sängerknaben (Wilten Boys' Choir) and performs regularly at major venues and festivals.

Performer Biography

The Tyrolean Chamber Orchestra InnStrumenti has premiered over 90 orchestral works by contemporary composers and received the Arthur Haidl Prize from the city of Innsbruck in 2010.

Composition History

This CD features four works commissioned by the Tyrolean Chamber Orchestra InnStrumenti specifically for performance in sacred settings.

Compositional Technique

Werner Pirchner's Choräle für Streichorchester (Chorales for String Orchestra) uses wide melodic arcs, short breaks, and parallel upper voices with sustained lower strings to create a melancholic and archaic sound.

Composer's Artistic Vision

Kurt Estermann's digressio:memoria for countertenor and chamber orchestra explores the question of God through Latin psalm texts, using an antithetical structure and a dialogue between voice and instruments.

Historical Context

The album commemorates Werner Pirchner and Bert Breit, two significant 20th-century composers from Western Austria, who would have celebrated their 75th birthday (Pirchner) and passed away (Breit) in 2015.