Chaya Czernowin: Seltene Erde & Atara

Seltene erde is the name of the precious minerals mined from the ground to be used for our cell phones and communication. The piece is at the nexus of the unimaginable suffering of the children or women mining the minerals, of the land being depleted to the sublime idea of uninterrupted worldwide communication containing our dreams and most noble aspirations.

The Double bass solo and its recordings are the earth, the ground for this piece. The ensemble is divided into small groups. These groups are interacting with each other. There is something illusionary and momentary about their interaction, as the groupings change to appear, disappear and reappear as if moved by invisible forces. These same invisible and seemingly random forces create pockets in time where the whole ensemble and the double bass cohere into a clear lacunes of understanding and resonance. In these endangered, poignant moments of cohesion, the ensemble is one body. A shapeshifting piece where things shine through or cover/block each other in a fast-changing field of listening.

At the beginning of 2020, before Covid hit, I had a clear concept for the orchestra piece, as follows: Crude: A piece which deals with large blocks of orchestral mass, drifting into and apart from each other moved by momentous forceful and unpredictable energies. This piece was to be a lament, a lament to the hubris of us thinking that we can control all the forces around us, and a reminder of these unknown forces which move us and our environment. Little did I know that in March 2020 our world will stop and indeed our loss of control vis a vis nature would be so staggering.

I changed the name of the piece and it is now similar to the name of the text: Atara. In this piece the orchestra is independent and moves slowly and forcefully in huge independent blocks. As opposed to this the singers and their chamber instrumental formation are fragile, intense and lost in the huge sudden spaces opened by the orchestra.

Composer: Chaya Czernowin

Conductor: Christian Karlsen, Johannes Kalitzke

Number of Discs: 1

Orchestra: ORF Radio-Symphonieorchester Wien

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