Musical scores

Explore the five works of contemporary classical music commissioned by the Project, inspired by the themes ofclimate change and migration.

What will be done?
Each of the four festivals and the gaming company will commission a composer to write a piece of music each.
When can I hear the pieces?
All pieces will be performed at the four festivals, starting in May 2024. SOT provides links to the music editors as soon as the music is available for purchase.

‍SOT provides links to the music editors as soon as the music is available for purchase. The partners of Songs of Travel is co-commissioning composers who are connected with migration to create new works of contemporary classical music and presenting this work at their 4 festivals and as soundtrack in the game.
The composers are Hawar Tawfiq, Djuro Zivkovic, Lasse Thoresen, Elaine Agnew and Karmit Fadael.

Photo by
Jorgen Caris
Hawar Tawfiq
Title. TBA
12 minutes
Voice, violin, cello, piano, (bass)clarinet, and percussion
Commissioned by: Piano Biënnale / Keys to Music Foundation
“Traveling is a magical phenomenon, which transforms the old person into a new person. From this point of view, our life journey is a travel with a final destination to meet our death.”‍
Hawar Tawfiq, born in Iraqi Kurdistan, learned violin from Kurdish teachers who studied with Russians in Baghdad. He fled to the Netherlands in 1998, gaining asylum after years of legal battles. He earned a Master's in violin in 2008 and excelled in composition in 2011. His residency process lasted 1998-2013, becoming a Dutch citizen in 2014. Hawar Tawfiq is one of the most prolific Dutch composers of today. He has worked with several national and international ensembles and orchestras.
www.hawartawfiq.com
Photo by
Djuro Zivkovic
Djuro Zivkovic
Concerto Therae
18 minutes
Double concert for piano and cello
Editioned by: German Music ltd.
Commissioned by: Fairplay Chamber Music
“I wish to invoke a sense of wonder and awe, evoking the paradoxical nature of our planet – a fragile, yet resilient sphere, suspended in the vastness of space. The music will evoke a sense of the sacred, calling upon the listener to contemplate their place within the grand design of the universe.”
Through “The Grawemeyer Award”, the Serbian-Swedish composer Djuro Zivkovic has quickly established himself as one of Europe’s leading composers of his generation. Zivkovic prime inspiration has always sprung from his faith and the Byzantine music he experienced in his childhood Serbia. In a time when more and more people seek spiritual proximity in their lives Zivkovic creates an immersive, ritualized and stylized production where the audience is offered a profound and abstract space to reflect on mysterium, ecstasy and transcendence. zivkovic.eu
Photo by
Kari Margrethe Sabro
Lasse Thoresen
Every Minute opens a Door
11 minutes
Soprano, cello, piano, violin
Editioned by: Edition Polaris
Commissioned by: Valdres Sommersymfoni  / Norsk Ressurssenter for Klassisk Musikk
The starting point of my piece will be Vladimir Levchev’s poem The Refugee, ending with the compelling words; “we might have traveled to eternity”.
Lasse Thoresen (b. 1949) is an acclaimed Norwegian composer and composition professor at the Norwegian State Academy of Music. He's taught since 1975, blending folk, spectral, and microtonal influences. With a background in electro-acoustic music and ethno-musical studies, he's embraced microtonal principles since 1985. Thoresen's style spans various genres, while his pioneering analysis approach, combining phenomenology and structuralism, has gained international recognition. He's published in Organised Sound and Journal of Music and Meaning, and his lectures worldwide discuss his music and analytical methods. lasse-thoresen.squarespace.com
Photo by
Carrie Davenport
Elaine Agnew
Songs of Travel
45 minutes
Clarinet/bass clarinet, violin, cello, piano and percussion
Interactive Motion Comic
Soundtrack
“Agnews music lends itself perfectly to a video game soundtrack, having also composed on a grand scale including for operas such as Paper Boat about the diverse communities living in Galway.”
Irish composer Elaine Agnew studied at Queen’s University Belfast and the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland with James MacMillan. Her works, performed globally, involve esteemed ensembles and festivals, from the Irish Chamber Orchestra to BBC London Proms. Premieres like Saint Francis and Paper Boat mark her achievements. She's the first RTÉ lyric fm Composer-in-Residence, an Aosdána member, and renowned for engaging diverse groups in music. Her 2012 BBC Proms piece, Dark Hedges, described as 'compelling,' showcased her talent with the Ulster Orchestras and Sir James Galway. elaineagnew.com
Photo by
Gregor Servais
Karmit Fadael
Title TBA
8-10 minutes
Solo cello and dancer Commissioned by: Music for Galway/Cellissimo
During ‘Songs of travel' I will ride trough a large part of Europe by train facing the vanishing nature and growing poverty, asking myself; how will I translate all of this to music?
Dutch-Israeli composer Karmit Fadael (1996) grew up in a small town in the north of the Netherlands. Mesmerized by the sound of the violin, she began her music education. As a teenager she developed an interest in composition which became the career she pursued.  Nowadays she has written for all kinds of ensembles including commisions from the Radio Philharmonic Orchestra, the Residentie Orchestra, Amsterdam Sinfonietta/Cello Biënnale, the North Netherlands Orchestra, the Asko|Schönberg and many others. www.karmitfadael.com