TAU XII - Jesus dying on the cross (2021) for mezzo soprano, flute, clarinet, horn & accordion

New Music by Karlheinz Essl

TAU is a 14-part ensemble piece for flute, clarinet, french horn, accordion, violoncello and voice. It was developed collaboratively by the composers Karlheinz Essl, Tanja Elisa Glinsner, Jakob Gruchmann-Bernau and Till Alexander Körber during the COVID pandemic 2020/2021. TAU XII was written by Karlheinz Essl and had its premier on Sep 18th, 2021 at the seminar church of Tanzenberg/Plešivec (Carinthia), performed by Tanja Elisa Glinsner: mezzo soprano, Elisabeth Möst: flute, Andreas Schablas: clarinets, Daniel Loipold: french horn, Eva Maria Mitter: accordion, Barbara Körber: cello and conducted by Jakob Gruchmann-Bernau. https://www.essl.at/works/TAU.html The central point of departure is the 14-part picture cycle The Blue TAU of Hope (The Piran Way of the Cross) by the Slovenian-Carinthian painter Valentin Oman, born in 1935, which is currently on display in the parish church of Tanzenberg/Plešivec. The form of the cycle is intended to trace the shape of a cross, which also determines the instrumentation of the individual stations. Each of the composers has individually composed three of these stations; the first and last were worked out together. By way, different individual styles come together, which, however, come to unity in the overall work. This finds its climax in two jointly composed movements where the divergent individual styles are fused together by a common harmonic conception. Thus, TAU can also be seen as a symbol of the integration of diversity and different identities.