Max Stern: EPILUDES (1996) for contrabass solo (19:20)
performed by the composer
These fragments originally served as interludes in a monodrama based on the story Bid'mi Yameha (In the Bloom of Her Days) by Nobel prize author S.Y. Agnon. It is the story of a girl who marries an older man, who was her deceased mother's unrequited love.
It was staged by the noted Israeli novelist and theater director Michal Govrin at the Jerusalem Khan Theater in 1977.
The 15 miniature are character sketches employing extended instrumental techniques based on traditional synagogue motifs - modified and shaped to the ebb and flow of the narrative as follows:
Death: fragments 1-4
Love: fragments 5-10
Regeneration: fragments 11-15
Max Stern: SONG OF HANNAH (1995)
Cantata for soprano, oboe and strings (8:48)
based on 1 Sam. 2: 1-5, 9-10
Kristyna Valouskova, soprano (outstanding Czech contemporary music singer)
Yuri Likin, oboe (Prague Symphony and Wind Quintet)
Collegium Musica Sacra / Vitezslav Podrazil , conductor
recorded at Maisel Synagogue, Prague (September 13, 1995)
Based on "Hannah's Song of Praise" from the Bible, this text served as the model for the Magnificat Canticle. It is joyous, awe filled work filled with love and gratitude to the Creator. The literary motif of "horn of salvation" finds musical expression in the intervalic structure and instrumentation.
Max Stern: SYMPHONIAE (1987) (35:52)
David Robertson (music director of St. Louis SO and pricipal guest conductor of BBC)
Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra
From dissonance to euphony from darkness to light this major symphonic statement places the story of human redemption in a contemporary context and frame. It transform from confusion and groping into a hymn of resounding praise.