Regina Irman

22.03.1957

- Born and raised in Winterthur
1976 - Studies music at the Winterthur Conservatory after completing undergraduate education
1982 - Teacher's diploma with guitar as a main subject
- Begins, at the age of 28, to play percussion and receives, in 1995, her concert diploma with distinction for this instrumentarium.
- Produces initial compositions during her time of study, an intensive occupation with composition follows, this later becomes the centre of her activities
Although the earlier works of Regina Irman demonstrated an interest in microtonality and rhythmical combinations, her later pieces often consisted of processed found sound. She is interested in collage-like forms and theatrical and experimental performance situations. Predeterminations, often in connection with speech, play a central role in Irman's compositional work.
She works today as a composer and percussionist (primarily in the area of new music) and is a lecturer at the pedagogic school in Thurgau.
Compositions have been commissioned by, amongst others, the city and canton of Zurich, 'Pro Helvetia', the 'Tage für Neue Musik Zürich' festival, the International Festival for New Recorder Music Basel, the 5th 'Schweizerischen Frauenkongress Bern' and diverse ensembles. In 2000 she received a sabbatical year from the city of Zurich.

Regina Irman
Wasserfurristr. 48
CH-8406 Winterthur
Fon: +41 (0)52 203 01 32
E-mail: regina.irman@freesurf.ch


Scores


Hügel bei Céret (1983)		 10'
for two violas and double-bass (other score for strings possible)
Order No: 2202, sFr. 34.00, € 26.00
A structure derived from a chain of pure intervals with no fixed pitch, but beginning low with a foundation tone, and later running freely. Intonation and listening carefully to each other is paramount in this piece. Graphic notation. Sponsored by SME Lucerne.

Speculum (1984)		 15'
for four Eb clarinets, two percussion, sisyphus machine, mirrored scenery and coloured lighting
Order No: 2203, sFr. 34.00, € 26.00
The Sisyphus machine, mirror stage-layout and lighting can all be obtained on request. In the case of a version without these accessories the machine must be replaced by a running tape recorder.

Aus spiegelndem Eis (1984)		 6'
for four clarinets
Order No: 2218, sFr. 16.00, € 12.00

boden(los) (1985)		 2'
for three violins
Order No: 2219, sFr. 13.00, € 10.00

Melodie 1 (1985)		 2'
for quarter-tone guitar or other instruments with free intonation possibilities
Order No: 2222, sFr. 13.00, € 10.00

Melodie 2 (1985)		 2'
for undertone flute or other instruments with free intonation possibilities
Order No: 2227, sFr. 13.00, € 10.00

Ein vatter=ländischer Liederbogen (1985/86)		 20'
After texts by Adolf Wölfli
for singing and speaking voice (mezzo-soprano) and partly prepared piano
Order No: 2205, sFr. 44.00, € 34.00
Text: Adolf Wölfli A collection of piano songs setting the Swiss character against the self. Typical Swiss misconceptions are compared and contrasted. Unfathomably grotesque. Illustrated score. Commissioned by the City of Zurich.

Ein Trauermarsch (1987)		 40'
After texts by Adolf Wölfli
for percussion trio and speaking voice
Order No: 2204, sFr. 65.00, € 50.00
Percussion set-up to include: Three pans, zinc bowl, water ladle, water gong, pedal timpani, Basel drum, military snare, piccolo snare, two wood-felt sets, ten cow bells, two tam tams, Peking opera gong, six cymbals, kazoo, vibraslap. The illogical and anti-perspectivist text, and a few Wölfli-like somisation fragments are formed and set to music in individual strata. These strata are laid one on top of the other in a collage, betraying Wolfli's frequent tendency towards queer folklorism. The timpani are the central and recurrent element throughout. Commissioned by the festival 'Tage für Neue Musik Zürich'.

Schwarzes Glück (1988/89)		 25'
for partly prepared piano
Order No: 2206, sFr. 49.00, € 38.00
A rhythmic piece based on the poems bearing the same name by Hans Arp. Twenty-three pitches of the piano are highly altered. Commissioned by the City of Zurich.

Passacaglia (1989/90)		 15'
for clarinet in A
Order No: 2207, sFr. 21.00, € 16.00
A solo piece with a steady gait, in which tempered intervals from the lower and middle registers confront just intonated intervals in the higher register. Commissioned by Jürg Frey, Aarau.

Schwarzes Glück 2 (1990/01)		 10'
for percussion quartet
Order No: 2208, sFr. 34.00, € 26.00
Percussion set-up to include: four piccolo snares, Basel drum, eight tom-toms, two bongos, conga, darbouka, two large frame drums, two bass drums, four pedal timpani, three woodblocks, temple block, large slit drum, two tam-tams, gong in c, four cymbals, three cowbells, large Japanese temple bell, brake drum, guiro, and other small percussion instruments (no melodic instruments). Two movements and an epilogue based on sections from the piano composition ‘Schwarzes Glück’. A rhythmical pulse and fine sounds predominate.

Requiem "An den Tod" (1991/93)		 60'
Based on a text by Anna Achmatowa
for 25 female voices in 6 groups ranging from a very high to a very low register and a minimum of three male voices (bass solo)
Order No: 2209, sFr. 47.00, € 36.00
Text: Anna Achmatowa This piece is based on a phonetic analysis of the voice of Achmatowa as she reads one of her own texts, and it is the musical rather than the semantic elements of Achmatowa's recitation that have been used. A cantus firmus-like line (male voices) defines the melody of her speech in a slow motion tempo. The six choir groups run "homophonically" and are a vertically "harmonious" splitting of the cantus firmus. Commissioned by Pro Helvetia.

Maskerade (1993)		 15'
Eight pieces
for mixed choir
Order No: 2210, sFr. 49.00, € 38.00
Text: Anna Achmatowa Four pairs of short pieces, the playing order of which is left to the performer. Text by Anna Achmatowa, with quotes from Schumann's 'Carnaval' and a madrigal by John Bennet forming the musical foundation. Composed for amateur choir Commissioned by the choir 'Kultur und Volk'.

Spiegeltanz (1993)		 4'
for two recorders and one drum
Order No: 2201, sFr. 18.00, € 14.00
In cooperation with Dieter Jordi. Commissioned by Conrad Steinmann for the International Recorder Festival in Basel.

Wörter (1995)		 10'
for saxophone ensemble (4s, 2a, 2bar) and one percussion
Order No: 2211, sFr. 34.00, € 26.00
This piece in five movements is derived from the same material as the vocal piece 'Requiem'. The sonogram of the same but differently pronounced words of a Russian text is processed in often very short sequences. With microtonal colouring. Commissioned by the City of Zurich.

Vereinsamt (1995)		 10'
for percussion solo (glockenspiel, cymbals and metal objects)
Order No: 2226, sFr. 13.00, € 10.00
Quiet metallic sounds compliment a text by Friedrich Nietzsche.

"... wie eine Heuschrecke über die Meere..." (1995/96)		 20'
for large mixed choir and play-back tapes
Order No: 2212, sFr. 55.00, € 42.00
(Parts available from SME/EMS: sFr. 40.-; € 40.-)
Text: Meret Oppenheim Based on text, images and an object by Meret Oppenheim. The very large sounding body is set like a sculpture in the room. Commissioned by the Fifth Swiss Women’s Congress in Berne.

Fünf Sprach-Klang-Objekte (1996)		 5'
für Schlagzeug solo (Vibraphon, Kleinperkussion, Sprechstimme)
Order No: 2214, sFr. 16.00, € 12.00
After texts by Sonja Sekula. Very short concentrated pieces that also require the interpreter to speak.

Fächer (1996)		 5'
for four-handed piano
Order No: 2215, sFr. 18.00, € 14.00
The compulsory piece for the Swiss Young Musicians Competition. A sense of tone and rhythmical precision is required in favour of the classic competition virtuosity. Commissioned by the Swiss Young Musicians' Competition.

Drei Tänze (1996/97)		 18'
for soprano, speaking voice/ piano, clarinet and accordion
Order No: 2216, sFr. 60.00, € 46.00
Texts: Anna Achmatova Midnight ghostly spook. The concert version of a scene from the forthcoming opera 'Poem ohne Held'. Commisioned by the 'Ensemble Klangheimlich', Berne.

Sculptures (for Bruce Naumann) (1997)		 15'
for quarter-tone gamba quartet (2A2B)
Order No: 2217, sFr. 42.00, € 32.00
Four quarter-tone bound gambas for once in raw sonority. Commissioned by the 'Ensemble Concerto di Viole'.

Otto mane (1999)		 3'
for orator, soprano, piano and large drum
Order No: 2225, sFr. 18.00, € 14.00
Text: E.T.A. Hoffmann A 'carnival' for four players in fifteen combinations with R. Schuhmann and E.T.A Hoffmann. For the 60th birthday of Urs Peter Schneider.

Surdina (1999/00)		 7'
for altus solo
Order No: 2229, sFr. 16.00, € 12.00
Text: Cecilia Meireles A meditative song based on a text by the Brazillian poet Cecilia Meireles. Commissioned by 'Pro Helvetia.'

Landschaften (2003)		 12'
Five pieces
for percussion sextet
Order No: 2230, sFr. 49.00, € 38.00
1. Schneelandschaft 2. Eisblumen 3. Maschinenlandschaft, zerschnitten 4. Eisgitter, amorph 5. Maschinenlandschaft, rotierend

Zehn kurze Stücke nach Motiven von Bach und Biber (ten short pieces after motives by Bach and Biber) (2004)		 10'
for (Baroque) violin solo
Order No: 2231, sFr. 26.00, € 20.00


Discs


Regina Irman
Regina Irman:
Sculptures (for Bruce Naumann)
Tisch mit Vogelfüssen
Hügel bei Céret
Melodie
Orfeo
Drei Tänze
Wörter
(Quatuor de Percussion; Ensemble concerto de viole; Ensemble Klangheimlich; u.a.)

Musiques Suisses MGB CTS-M 62
SME/EMS Order Nr.: 83
Price CHF: 29.-    Price EUR: 18.-


Further Discs:
CD Jecklin JS 270/1-2: Ein vatter=ländischer Liederbogen

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automatically generated. last update: 24.01.2012 / 2004 Theo Lustenberger