Composition Commission issued to Martin Smolka

Stiftung Jheronimus Bosch 500, 's-Hertogenbosch, the Netherlands

That we may apply our hearts unto wisdom – this quote from Psalm 90 v. 12 is the slogan of the 2015 German Protestant Church Congress. These words address the mortality of life and the request for a wise, listening heart that banks on the meagerly allotted time and relativizes its own intelligence.

Martin Smolka makes this slogan the basis for his composition – commissioned by the Oberkirchenrat in Stuttgart and funded by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. Planned is a 30 to 40-minute work for three choirs while the specific choice of text will fall to the Prague composer.

The involvement of four renowned music institutions will help to make the variety of the Stuttgart Choir scene both visible and audible. These are: the Gächinger Kantorei, the Philharmonia Chor Stuttgart, the Bach-Chor Stuttgart and the Württembergische Philharmonie Reutlingen.

June 4, 2015
Stuttgart, Liederhalle

Further Information:
www.kirchenmusik.elk-wue.de