Heller, Barbara: Choral

for Elke Mascha Blankenburg

The formal structure of this organ chorale with solo clarinet follows a Jewish death prayer. The solo clarinet represents the chant of the traditional prayer leader while the organ plays the response of the congregation of the synagogue. The piece ends with a cadenza of the solo clarinet to which an optional organ improvisation can be added. Barbara Heller dedicated this chorale to the memory of Elke Mascha Blankenburg (1943–2013). Talking about her before the first performance, the composer said: ‘She was open-hearted with a really tender soul, very trusting. Her creativity knew no limits; she was also an almost fanatical campaigner for music by women. In the music you will hear now I have attempted to convey some aspects of her personality: charming, loving, obstinate, committed, volatile, tragic, crazy, untamed, tender and anguished.’ The various sections of this chorale may be performed in a correspondingly contrasting manner: searching, hesitant, visionary, focused, volatile, accusatory, hopeful, etc., with use of rubato and powerful contrasts in dynamic and tone quality.