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Music

Pilidsa

Opus 30, 2023

Organ

The work Pilidsa can be located in a loose connection to the name B-A-C-H, both in terms of the direct quotation in note names and in its structural design. This clear link is particularly evident at the beginning and end of the piece of music. The name Pilidsa fulfils the basic function of a name, namely to name something. However, the derivation and deeper meaning, as well as the question of whether there is a deeper meaning in this name at all, should be left up to each person.
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Silhouetten

Opus 29, 2022-2023

Clarinet in Bb, Horn in F, Violoncello, Piano

In the evening, in a flat near Le Centre Pompidou, a double bass player played a melody in a pub across the street. At the same time as this quiet and distant melody, the shadows of people passing by on the street could be seen on the ceiling. The musical realisation of these contours on the ceiling consists of melodies, their developments and interjected notes and shorter figures, which are increasingly found in the movements for solo violoncello and solo horn.

The piece is performed in two parts, consisting of a total of nine movements. Each movement has a different instrumentation, whereby the quartet does not appear in any of the movements.

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Blicke in den Himmel

Views into the Sky

Opus 28, 2022

Violoncello, Piano

Every person who has ever lived has looked into the same sky, everyone has pointed something into the same sky and everyone has dreamed into the same sky. Heaven may never be attainable and yet it seems within reach. So close that it can influence minds through emotion. Artists such as Vincent van Gogh with his Starry Night, Edvard Munch with his Scream or Salvador Dalí with The Elephants created defining images of the sky.

For people, the sky is often a reflection of the world below. One can recognise joy, one’s own future or hope in it, but unfortunately also the negative. Black clouds, grey horizon, yellow lights and red sun, military aircraft instead of passenger planes, no birdsong to be heard and no scent of fresh wind to be smelled or felt. Instead, marked by fast planes with the insignia of the invaders, loud alarms and the smell of dust and ash.

The naive composition Views into the Sky (Blicke in den Himmel) looks questioningly at the sky and tries to imagine how people would perceive it from a blue and yellow perspective.

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Sternbilder - Astra II

Opus 27, 2020-2022

Trumpet in Bb, Bassoon, Accordion

The Sternbilder – Astra (Constellations – Astra) cycle is a setting of all the constellations recognised by the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Since 1922, the IAU has counted 88 constellations by a total of six authors (Bayer, Brahe, Hevelius, Lacaille, Planci-us and Ptolemy). In the cycle Sternbilder – Astra II, op. 27, six further constellations are set to music.

Each movement bears the title of a constellation named by the French astronomer Nicolas-Louis de Lacaille (1713 - 1762). Lacaille discovered and named a total of fourteen constellations still in use today. He often named his discoveries after technical achievements, and Sternbilder – Astra II is dedicated to all those constellations that were named after just such achievements.

A central idea that runs through all the movements is repetition. On the one hand, the repetition of motifs, rhythms and small melodies, on the other hand, sounds that recur one after the other (as for example in Grabstichel – Caelum). This reflects the recurring appearance of constellations every night.

The first versions of Pendeluhr – Horoglium were written for solo piano in 2020. In spring 2022, the movement was rewritten for the present instrumentation. The movements Chemischer Ofen – Fornax and Winkelmaß – Norma were composed in July 2021 and were also originally written for piano. The remaining three movements were composed between December 2021 and January 2022 and were written directly for the present instrumentation.

The movements Grabstichel – Caelum, Mikroskop – Microscopium and Teleskop – Telescopium were composed on the occasion of the competition Jugend komponiert 2022 (Youth composes 2022) of the Austrian Composers Association (formerly ÖKB). On 19th March 2022, the work was premiered in the small studio of the Mozarteum Salzburg by András Gergely Gerhardt, Petra Seidl and Karin Küstner as part of ASPEKTE Salzburg and won 2nd prize in age group II.

Chemischer Ofen - Fornax

In the first movement it is bubbling and foaming like in a witch’s oven. When experimenting and researching with chemicals, it is sometimes impossible to tell what substance will emerge next. The Chemische Ofen – Fornax is intended to describe, by means of its own tone series, this brief moment when a chemical experiment is carried out.
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Winkelmaß - Norma

In order to be able to determine the size of an angle, one can use an angle measure. Winkelmaß – Norma is meant to be a progressive sound picture, where piece after piece is hung, quasi one angle after the other.
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Grabstichel - Caelum

A graver is a tool mainly for metal and woodwork. It is used to work and touch up over and over again. In Grabstichel – Caelum, an attempt was made to represent this work with repetitive tones and loud sounds of the entire ensemble.
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Pendeluhr - Horogolium

The recurring click of a pendulum clock is always exactly in rhythm and almost meditative. In the fourth movement, Pendeluhr – Horogolium, however, it is not a working pendulum clock that is set to music, but one that is getting a little long in the tooth. Recurring sound movements seem to be rhythmically shifted a little each time, quasi out of time.
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Mikroskop - Microscopium

When you look through a microscope, you see the world much bigger or discover something that you could not see with the naked eye. Perhaps you also catch a glimpse of life and can detect the heartbeat?
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Teleskop - Telescopium

With a telescope you can look far into the distance. One is gripped by the spirit of adventure to explore and investigate this distance. The last sentence is meant to capture and capture this beginning of a new journey. This is precisely why this fanfare-like movement is at the end of the work.
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Entrückt

Opus 23, 2021

Oboe, Clarinet in Bb, Horn in F, Bassoon, Piano

The musical idea Entrückt (Engrossed) is intended to reflect one’s own perception of the Corona pandemic and the associated lockdowns. The work in three movements is based on a series of paintings by my father, Martin Chroust, who painted them during the Corona pandemic. Two of the three pictures were taken in the period from March to April 2020, the third in April 2021, the music in the period from May to June 2021. The title Entrückt refers to the enraptured living conditions of everyone due to the pandemic. The names of each movement do not correspond to the original names of the paintings due to different circumstances.
Stillstand

Standstill

based on the painting »Lockdown Blues #1«

The moment should capture the new situations that now affect everyone. Many areas, especially those such as gastronomy, hotels and culture are forced to come to a complete standstill. Social contacts are also put to the test, you are only allowed to leave your own four walls under a few circumstances. Due to the lack of vaccines and lack of information about the virus, the near future is still uncertain.
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Miniaturrhapsodie

Miniaturerhapsody

based on the painting »Hastu Bücher hastu Welten«

So that one’s own roof doesn’t fall on one’s head in one’s limited free time, one entertains oneself with good books. You jump and switch between many pages and stories, some are romantic, some are more exciting than a thriller. While individuals get bored over time, the huge world of stories and tales is open to everyone, where everyone can certainly find something to their taste and experience real adventures in their heads.
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Fordernde Pilaster

Demanding Pilasters

based on the painting »Lockdown Blues #2«

In the end, unfortunately, exactly what happened that you originally tried to avoid: the time in your own four walls has become an unbearable odyssey. The apartment feels like your own prison, from which you just want to break out. The screams for normalcy are getting louder and louder, but the only thing to do is wait. Even if it seems like it’s over, it’s actually not over yet.
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Sommernächte

Summer Nights

Opus 21, 2020-2021

Flute, Clarinet in Bb, Piano

The summer nights describe two scenes from a mild, as the title suggests, summer night in Arles. People are on the street, laughing, drinking, dancing solemnly and enjoying the local street cafes.
Zur Abenddämmerung

At Dusk

The story behind the two pieces basically relates to the space. In the first piece, strolling through the streets, where someone is playing the trumpet and where someone else is making their way home.
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Zu später Stunde

Late at Night

The second scene describes the experience in a night café. This image should convey a relaxed atmosphere next to a billiard table, where wine or other spirits are consumed.
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Sternbilder - Astra I

Constellations - Astra I

Opus 20, 2020-2021

Piano

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) has recognized 88 zodiac signs since 1922. In scientific contexts, some factors are given for a named constellation, in this case only the English and Latin nominative are mentioned (if the names are congruent, it is only written once). There are also small explanations of the background to the names.

Opus 20 contains only 8 of 88 zodiac signs, whereby these are again related in two independent Greek mythologies. The corvus, the crater and the hydra are thematically related, as are Cassiopeia, Perseus and three other unpublished constellations.

Becher - Crater

Crater

As an offering to Zeus, Apollo sent a raven to fetch water from a spring. The raven took the crater (a type of a cup) and flew off, but on the way he saw a fig tree with unripe figs and could not resist tasting them.
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Wasserschlange - Hydra

Hydra

To apologise for his delay, the raven grabbed a water snake and claimed that it had blocked his way to the spring.
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Rabe - Corvus

Corvus

But Apollo recognised the lie and punished the raven by forbidding it to drink during the time when the figs were ripe. As a warning to others, he placed the raven, the crater and the hydra in the sky.
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Kassiopeia - Cassiopeia

Cassiopeia was the wife of Cepheus in Greek mythology and was of an extremely beautiful figure. She claimed to be more beautiful than the Nereids and so drew the wrath of Poseidon.
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Perseus

Perseus is the son of Zeus and Danae. In Greek mythology, he rushed to the aid of the beautiful Andromeda, who was to be sacrificed to the sea monster Ketos. In gratitude, she became a woman.
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Fünf kleine Momente

Five Little Moments

Opus 19, 2019-2020

Alto Saxophone, Piano

The small cycle Fünf kleine Momente (Five Little Moments) describes, as the name suggests, five small, almost insignificant scenes that can easily be forgotten. When writing the pieces, it was important to put them down on paper in as short a duration as possible. The music should reflect the snapshot, after all, the programme behind the work also describes only snapshots. So all the movements, except for the first one in spring 2020, were composed and completed in one weekend. The first movement was already composed in December 2019.

To date, only the first movement of the five movements has been performed. In Gerald Schuhfried’s podcast radioCORE, it provided the musical accompaniment to the narrator. In the English-language edition Another World of 26 February 2021, a Dutch woman talks about her activities as a development aid worker in India, the Philippines and Nigeria.

Der sehr schwache Nieselregen über einer Stadt

The very weak drizzle over a city

The first moment describes a very weak drizzle over a city, perhaps it was also a small thunderstorm? Now and then you can make out bright rays of sunlight coming through the dark blue cloud cover, but eventually the shallow rain stays and darkens the city below.
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Winter-Quartett

Winter-Quartet

Opus 13, 2019

Violin, Violin, Viola, Violoncello

The Winter Quartet describes a typical winter landscape, consisting of various elements such as icicles, a fir tree, a skiing landscape, etc. The sum of all these elements is what makes up the composition of the Winter Quartet, or rather what I as the composer associate with the term winter. But it’s also important to me that each single winter element has a story of its own, which I have tried to highlight and to incorporate into the overall context.
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Shape the Future Waltz

Opus 11, 2019

Violin, Violoncello, Piano

With this piece I set the child right right of each child to education and training to promote its talents. I personally think that this right is of particular importance, because I believe that each child has hidden talents that need to be discovered.
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Atlantic

Opus 8, 2019

Violin, Piano

Atlantic is the 17th piece of the story WHITE that I am telling by musical means. In this part of the story the crossing of the Atlantic Ocean changes the life of the main character. The story is set at a time when this crossing was dangerous. In the whole story the piano represents the protagonist, while the other instruments represent external circumstances, as does the violin in this piece as the more dominant voice. In the story, the protagonist wants to fetch his family from Brazil and bring them to France. During the long journey he thinks a great deal about how his huge family will fare in a small French village. Before the crossing, he and his sister were the only colored people there and were little respected.

  1. Part A, piano and violin: The protagonist has reached his mental and physical limit, but still he manages to pull himself together time and again. The violin reflects the changing swell of the waves, at times big, small, light or heavy.
  2. Part B, piano: The protagonist becomes even more aware of the current and future situation in France and Brazil, and his emotions overwhelm him.
  3. Part A’, piano and violin: The emotional situation calms down again, but the swell of the waves is higher than ever, as the violin tells us, rising by an octave. What the crossing will result in remains open to the listener, and each one is left to interpret for her- or himself. We only know for sure that the passage succeeds.
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7. Jänner

January 7th

Opus 4, 2018

Piano for four hands

On 7 January 2018, my brother went abroad to Dublin for half a year. The work for four hands describes my feelings and deals a little with the farewell for a longer period of time.

The composition is divided into three movements and is the first work of mine to be performed in public.

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Mirror

Opus 3, 2017/2021

Piano

The piece of music and the title refer to a story drafted at the time and are thematically linked to another, previously unpublished piece. In September 2021, it was reworked on the occasion of a radioCORE narrative, with large parts of the original version remaining intact.
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Tropfen

Drops

Opus 2, 2017/2023

Piano

The work Tropfen (Drops) describes the halting flow of a drop of water and follows the short life of this small amount of liquid. In February 2023 it was drastically revised on the occasion of a radioCORE narrative.
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