Trevor Grahl: Brennendes Geheimnis

(Submitted by ISCM – NETHERLANDS SECTION)

Trevor Grahl (b. 1984), originally from the small Canadian town of Rankin, Ontario, began studies at McGill University and later at UCSD in San Diego and finally the Conservatorium van Amsterdam. His works have been performed by many groups across North America, Europe, and China including the Ives Ensemble, Asko|Schönberg, the Nieuw Ensemble, Philip Thomas and Continuum Contemporary Music, Oliver Latry, 7090, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, Joint Venture Percussion Duo, Brian Archinal, The International Ensemble Modern Academy, Jan Hage, the Nederlands Studenten Orkest, Hans-Ola Ericsson, Jörgen van Rijen, the Gelders Orkest, and the Toronto Symphony. Trevor teaches at the Koninklijk Conservatorium in Den Haag.

Brennendes Geheimnis, novella for orchestra after Stefan Zweig (2019)

Zweig’s novella is a recollection-journey back to the time of childhood and all of the encompassing emotional states: naiveté, magic of the unknown, excitement of play, yet also despair, and extreme unchecked anger. The eponymous ‘secret’, which slowly spreads its way through the orchestra, as a buzzing, beating, narrow interval, pervades the entire soundscape by the end: an omnipresent secret. One of the most beautiful moments in Zweig’s work is what happens during the last pages: a curtain suddenly drops, and Edgar experiences this omnipresent dissonance as a part of a complex natural network, and in an instant, understands its nature.