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Johannes Maria Staud's On Comparative Meteorology Premieres at The Cleveland Orchestra

May. 06, 2009

The Cleveland Orchestra performs the world premiere of Johannes Maria Staud's On Comparative Meteorology on May 28th, under the baton of Franz Welser-Möst. Staud, selected as The Cleveland Orchestra's Daniel R. Lewis Young Composer Fellow for both the 2007-8 and 2008-9 seasons, composed this Cleveland Orchestra commission in memory of Polish author Bruno Schulz. Staud writes:

On Comparative Meteorology consists of six relatively short pieces, which merge into each other. This work was only possible through my great experience with The Cleveland Orchestra and its incredible individual strengths, and is inspired by my attempt to understand the mysterious world of Bruno Schulz's musical paths.

In spite of my effort to precede each of the sections with a short, evocative quote from Bruno Schulz, I found I could not make it work. And this is probably for two reasons: firstly, Schulz's stories are of such completion and perfection that any removal from the context of his multidimensional novels would be an extraction nearing mutilation; and secondly, because a single page of Bruno Schulz offers more condensed imagination and a greater variety of mysterious trap-doors than the complete works of many of the great Romantics.

What is left is ultimately the sole title: On Comparative Meteorology, taken from the short story "A Second Autumn," in which the father of the narrator studies the patterns of spring-time parasites in his local region. If you haven't already read between the lines, here is my strong recommendation: Read Bruno Schulz, and you will understand my fascination!

The orchestra follows the premiere with two encore performances on May 29 and 30. Included in the program is fellow Universal Edition composer Luke Bedford's Outblaze the Sky.

For more information on the music of Johannes Maria Staud and Luke Bedford, visit www.universaledition.com.

Find detailed information on The Cleveland Orchestra's performance at www.clevelandorch.com.

Listen to Staud and Bedford's music at www.last.fm.

Johannes Maria Staud
On Comparative Meteorology (2008/9)
for orchestra
in memory of Bruno Schulz
for Silvia
4.3.3.3–4.1.2.1–timp.perc–hp.cel.pno

Luke Bedford
Outblaze the Sky (2006)
for orchestra
3.3.3.3–4.3.3.1–timp.2perc–hp.cel–str
6'

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