Tracks:
1 - Lukas Langlotz: Ohne Titel II. Hommage
2 - Roland Moser: eleven sizes – extended moments II,
     hommage à Henri Michaux (WP)
3 - Isabel Klaus: schief (WP)
4 - Leonardo Idrobo: ein kinderlied (WP

Swiss compositional creativity is an important theme for “Ensemble Phoenix Basel” in their concert programs. Several Swiss composers whom “Ensemble Phoenix Basel” commissioned between 2011-2014 appear in this first collection. The one exception is Lukas Langlotz; his piece, Ohne Titel II. Hommage was written in 2009 for the “ensemble für neue musik zürich”. In this work, the piano takes the virtuosic role of a soloist. Alongside, the piano has a concertizing partner on the marimba. The piece consists of an introduction and 26 sections of varying length following one after the other, all of which are built upon a foundation from the circle of fifths.

In his composition eleven sizes – extended moments II, hommage à Henri Michaux, Roland Moser combines flute(s), clarinet, and bass together to form a trio of soloists. A string trio and (sometimes) the piano function as an orchestra while the percussion takes on the role of a reflective observer. The piece consists of eleven sound-images of very different dimensions; each has its own sense of time, ranging from expansive (“nearly timeless”) to “intensely hustled”.

Isabel Klaus describes her composition, schief, as “an approach to create a principally monophonic piece with a yammering and relatively unclear character, whose individual instrumental parts never reach the same energy-level as one another.”

Leonardo Idrobo provided the following text about his composition, ein kinderlied:

“Ein Kinderlied. One? My son is never satisfied with just one thing. No! He needs to be running several activities at the same time. This “multifacettedness” and the way he plays have inspired me to write a piece in which I attempt to imitate his narrative way of playing.

Quotes from well-known children's folksongs appear in the piece; sometimes fragmented or just as a shadow. “Pseudo- children's folksongs”, fragmented melodies that could be written in this musical style, are formed from other sound materials such as branches and twigs from a tree. This results (hopefully) in a complex, but clearly audible sound-texture.”