related works
Lullaby : Version for clarinet, cello and piano / Nimrod Borenstein
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring:
cl vc pf
Elegy for... : for English horn and string quartet / Michael Fine
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring:
eh 2vn vla vc
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Kapstok : voor 2 pianisten en 6 slagwerkers, 1978 / Tom Riedstra
Genre:
Chamber music
Subgenre:
Mixed ensemble (2-12 players)
Scoring:
6perc 2pf
composition
Suspended : Version for string quintet / Nimrod Borenstein
Other authors:
Borenstein, Nimrod
(Composer)
Description:
Suspended is a set of 8 pieces which are extremely different one from another and can be performed either as a complete cycle, a selection of movements or as individual pieces. They are as diverse as our life: with moments of intense passion and moments of peaceful introspection, with laughter and lightness but also sadness and tragedy.
Suspended was commissioned especially by Gandini Juggling for their ballet for jugglers and dancers 4 x 4 Ephemeral Architectures. It was premiered at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden on the 13th of January 2015.
A huge international success, the ballet has since had more than hundred performances (from the Edinburgh International Festival to the Taipei Arts Festival) and continues to tour the world. The piece was recorded for the Solaire Records label at the Jesus-Christus-Kirche, Berlin, in August 2015 with Laércio Diniz conducting das freie orchester Berlin.
Even before I started writing a single note of music it was my intention that Suspended should be powerful enough to be able to be performed as a concert piece like the great ballet music of the past. I have always thought that one of the secrets of the greatness of Tchaikovsky's ballets or Mozart's operas lies in the fact that they actually similar to the rest of their music and in being so are so imaginative that they can be enjoyed on their own without the visual and storytelling added aspects. For me it is like cooking a meal: I would like the food to taste good even before adding the salt or pepper!
To create the complexity and variety of rhythm which would work well with movement I found a personal way to explore for myself dances such as the tango, the waltz, the habanera, the charleston and several other. These dances have found an interesting relationship with what I call my trademark rhythms.
Suspended is not only the title of this composition, it is also what constitutes for me one of the magical aspects of music when it is well written and well performed: moments when the time seems to halt. It is very much like the feel we have when we stop pedalling on a bicycle and enjoy the effortless continuation of the movement, or when we enjoy the glide whilst ice-skating.
Nimrod Borenstein