instruments large ensemble:

flute (doubling piccolo), oboe (doubling cor anglais), clarinet, bass clarinet (doubling clarinet), bassoon (doubling contrabassoon), percussion, piano, violin, viola, violoncello and double-bass.

movements
1. "Ringing Bells, Standing Waves"
2. "Passing Bells, Floating Waves"
3. "Jerking Bells, Turning Waves"
4. "Striking Bells, Icy Waves"
5. "Shaking Bells, Running Waves"

year of production 2010

dedication Christian Karlsen

commissioned by New European Ensemble

duration 30’  

first performance
November 11 2010

Staadsgehorzaal, Leiden, Netherlands

New European Ensemble

Winner of the Swedish Music Publishers Association (SMFF) Award in the category "Contemporary Award of the Year” - chamber musc/smaller ensemble.

work comments

Bells and Waves was commissioned and dedicated to New European Ensemble and its conductor  Christian Karlsen that was performed on White Crow Music Festival on its inauguration concert at Staadsgehoorzaal in Leiden, Netherlands.

This work is a chamber symphony and divided into five movements dealing with the composers own childhood experiences: bells and water which forms the topic into several word connected.

The motive is an anagram for the composers last name: S (t) A E (r, n) = E-flat, A and E which is the base for the harmonic backbone of the whole symphony.

1. Introduction "Ringing Bells, Standing Waves"
2. Aria "Passing Bells, Floating Waves"
3. Scherzo "Jerking Bells, Turning Waves"
4. Intermezzo "Striking Bells, Icy Waves"
5. Finale "Shaking Bells, Running Waves"

Reviews on Bells and Waves:

 […] "Zudem am Schluss ein neues, für dieses Ensemble komponiertes Werk des Engländers Benjamin Staern (* 1978), der in ,,Bells and Waves. fünfsätzig seine Bilder von Glocken und Wellenbewegungen in Klang umsetzt, dabei extrem sinfonisch denkt und die einzelnen lnstrumente nicht solistisch behandelt. Aber ein Werk, das personalstilistisch bemerkenswert emotional aufgeladen ist und entsprechenden Eindruck" […]

Carsten Dürer, Ensemble - Magazin für Kammermusik, February/March 2011