Voice
Big Data
Decoder Ensemble plays first recordings of works on remix, sampling and copy-paste by Brigitta Muntendorf, Ole Hübner, Stefan Prins, Matthias Kranebitter and Leopold Hurt, most commissioned for its 2017 Big Data Weekend. Coproduced with Deutschlandfunk.
Die schrecklich-gewaltigen Kinder / O Daddy
Rolf Riehm's Die schrecklich-gewaltigen Kinder (Piia Komsi, Ensemble Modern, Hermann Bäumer, Frankfurt 2003) and O Daddy for orchestra and recorded sounds (SWF-Sinfonieorchester Baden-Baden, Kazimierz Kord, Donaueschingen 1984), both live premiere recordings.
Polyphone Schatten / Drittes Labyrinth
Jörg Widmann's Polyphone Schatten (Lichtstudie II) for viola, clarinet and orchestral groups and Drittes Labyrinth for soprano and orchestral groups, in their 2002 and 2014 Cologne premiere recordings with the WDR Sinfonieorchester under Heinz Holliger and Emilio Pomàrico.
Got Lost
Helmut Lachenmann's Got Lost for high soprano and piano (2007/08), Streichtrio (1965) and Serynade for piano (1997/98), performed by soprano Yuko Kakuta, pianist Yukiko Sugawara and trio recherche. A Südwestrundfunk production.
Unanswered Love
Juliane Banse sings Reimann's Drei Gedichte der Sappho, Henze's Nachtstücke und Arien (Bachmann) and Rihm's Aria/Ariadne (Nietzsche) with the Deutsche Radio Philharmonie Saarbrücken Kaiserslautern under Christoph Poppen. SR/SWR production, 2017.
Hidden
Chaya Czernowin's HIDDEN for string quartet and electronics (JACK Quartet, IRCAM) and Adiantum Capillus-Veneris for voice and breath (Inbal Hever), first recordings made in Cologne on 11-13 April 2016 at Deutschlandfunk's Forum neuer Musik.
Movimento
Dieter Schnebel's MOVIMENTO for musicians in motion (2015), performed by the AG Neue Musik of the Leininger-Gymnasium Grünstadt under Silke Egeler-Wittmann (SWR, 2016), with Gesums - Geknarrt from Schulmusik recorded in 1985 under Manfred Peters.
Sommersneige
Wilhelm Killmayer's songs for tenor and piano on poems by Eichendorff, Hölderlin and Trakl, sung by Markus Schäfer with Siegfried Mauser. Co-production with BR Klassik, recorded in Munich in 2016, released in 2017.
Wechselspiele
Seven works (1994-2016) by the Bucharest-born composer Tom Sora, in first recordings by Sarah Maria Sun, TrioCoriolis, the Steuber-Öllinger guitar duo, Andreas Skouras, Thomas Hastreiter and Sora himself. Co-production with Bayerischer Rundfunk, 2017.
Léone
Philippe Mion’s acousmatic opera Léone (1993), on a libretto by Philippe Minyana drawn from a true news story: six singers conducted by Laurent Cuniot, with the whole orchestra replaced by tape composed at the Ina-GRM and Grame.
Dialog mit Haydn / Issei no Kyo / Nanzen no Kyo
Three works by Hans Zender: Dialog mit Haydn (Kretzschmar, Wiget, Bundesjugendorchester, Zender), Issei no kyō (Claron McFadden, WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln, Johannes Kalitzke) and Nanzen no kyō with the WDR Rundfunkchor. MDR/WDR productions, 2017.
Spiralat halom / Eingedunkelt / Neun Stücke
Aribert Reimann's Spiralat halom (2002), the Celan cycle Eingedunkelt in its first recording for countertenor (Tim Severloh), and the orchestral Neun Stücke (1993); NDR Sinfonieorchester under Christoph Eschenbach.
Adónde? Wohin?
Hans Zender's four Canciones on St John of the Cross (2008-14), with Angelika Luz, Ernst Kovacic, Klangforum Wien, the Bavarian Radio Choir and Symphony Orchestra, the SWR Vokalensemble and SWR Sinfonieorchester; four conductors.
Oracula Sibyllae
Five works by Balz Trümpy (2005-2013), including Oracula Sibyllae for soprano, baritone, flute and percussion on Sibylline oracles and Virgil, played by the El Cimarrón Ensemble; all first recordings.
Being Beauteous / Kammermusik 1958
Hans Werner Henze's cantata Being Beauteous (Rimbaud) with Anna Prohaska, and Kammermusik 1958 (Hölderlin) with Peter Gijsbertsen and Jürgen Ruck, first recording of the string orchestra version; NDR Sinfonieorchester, Peter Ruzicka, Hamburg 2013 and 2015.
Choral Utopia
Choral works by Heinz Holliger: Shir Shavur on David Rokeah, Psalm, hölle himmel and Rosa Loui on Kurt Marti, and Utopie Chorklang; SWR Vokalensemble under Marcus Creed and Holliger, recorded 2006-2015, mostly first recordings.
Visionen
Five works by Dimitri Terzakis (1988-2009): Legetos, the Sappho-Zyklus, À une Madone, Visionen and Sonate infernale, with Brigitte Fassbaender, Tatjana Masurenko, the Thomanerchor Leipzig, the Münchner Rundfunkorchester and others.
Beckett Material
Morton Feldman's 1976 trilogy Orchestra, Elemental Procedures (soprano, choir, orchestra; Beckett text) and Routine Investigations, with Claudia Barainsky, WDR Rundfunkchor and WDR Sinfonieorchester Köln under Peter Rundel; recorded 2010 and 2013.
The Quiet
Five orchestral works by Chaya Czernowin (2010-13), including The Crescendo Trilogy, with the BR Symphony Orchestra, Berner Symphonieorchester, SWR Sinfonieorchester, West-Eastern Divan Orchestra and others, recorded live 2011-2013.
Erbe
Edition Musikfabrik: Sampo Haapamäki's Heritage, Martin Smolka's Wooden Clouds and Carola Bauckholt's Voices for Harry Partch, new works for Musikfabrik's replica Partch instruments, recorded in Cologne 2015-2018 under Siân Edwards and Clement Power.