Kaddisch, for clarinet, double bass and piano, Performing score

'Kaddish (Aramaic: ?holy?) is the Jewish mourning prayer recited for the dead. My Kaddisch für David Stahl was conceived to honour the memory of the long-serving chief musical director of the Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz in Munich and begins with a lyrically flowing lament on the clarinet which towards the end rears up in a despairing wail of grief. The piano and double bass punctuate the arching structure of the melody with an aggressive and urgent three-note phrase which should sound as if ?hammered in steel?, symbolising the three syllables ?Da-vid Stahl?. The work culminates with an original Jewish melody for Psalm 119 with the following text: ?Your word is a lamp to my feet, shadows and light reveal the width and depth of the path of my life.? Wilfried Hiller