Gefunden

About the album

Ten works, ten sound worlds. Gefunden gathers two decades of Amos Elkana's writing for solo instruments, voice and electronics, and moves between poetic intimacy, virtuoso brilliance and electroacoustic landscape. All ten are world premiere recordings.

The title work, from 2006, is a personal homage to the composer's grandmother, who recites Goethe's poem Gefunden in German and Hebrew — captured with all the breaks, memories and half-tones of a life. From there the album opens onto radically different spaces: Cembalo Fractals and Cadenza unfold structures drawn from fractal geometry and rhythmic virtuosity, while Labyrinth tests the limits of the pianistic in a single minute.

Zanshin, for four double basses, and Mushin, for flute and electronics, reach into Japanese concepts of awareness and mind, weaving meditative stillness into intense energy. Judgment Day is pointedly political. Opus Focus and Prita bind instrument and electronics into complex textures, and the duet Mostly Cloudy reflects on the events of 7 October 2023 as a conversation between two violins.

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Track list

1. 1.
   Gefunden (2006)
   for electronics and voice
   3:55
   VoiceMiriam Keren ElectronicsAmos Elkana
2. 2.
   Cembalo Fractals (2017)
   for harpsichord
   7:34
   HarpsichordHagai Yodan

   • I. The Bewildered Planet 1:55
   • II. Peano Curve 1:48
   • III. Labyrinth 1:13
   • IV. Interweaving 2:38
3. 3.
   Labyrinth (2019)
   for piano
   1:02
   PianoHagai Yodan
4. 4.
   Zanshin (2020)
   for four double basses
   9:30
   Double bassEran Borovich

   • I. 3:00
   • II. 3:02
   • III. 3:28
5. 5.
   Judgment Day (2020)
   for bassoon
   2:19
   BassoonNadav Cohen
6. 6.
   Opus Focus (2018)
   for percussion and electronics
   8:33
   PercussionOded Geizhals ElectronicsAmos Elkana
7. 7.
   Mostly Cloudy (2023)
   for two violins
   6:02
   ViolinsTalia Herzlich and Michael Pavia

   • I. 1:11
   • II. 1:05
   • III. 2:22
   • IV. 1:24
8. 8.
   Mushin (2020)
   for flute and electronics
   7:00
   FluteHagar Shahal ElectronicsAmos Elkana
9. 9.
   Prita (2018)
   for electric guitar and electronics
   10:36
   Electric guitarNadav Lev ElectronicsAmos Elkana

   • I. 1:48
   • II. 2:55
   • III. 2:17
   • IV. 3:36
10. 10.
    Cadenza (2018)
    for piano
    2:37
    PianoAmit Dolberg

Physical CD

About the composer

Amos Elkana (b. 1967) is a composer, guitarist and electronic musician whose work spans contemporary concert music, progressive rock, jazz and improvisation. He studied jazz guitar at Berklee College of Music and composition at the New England Conservatory, and holds an MFA in electronic music and sound from Bard College, where he studied with Pauline Oliveros and George Lewis.

His music has been performed internationally by leading soloists, ensembles and orchestras, and presented at Carnegie Hall, Konzerthaus Berlin and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. He is the recipient of Israel's Prime Minister's Prize for Composers, the Rosenblum Prize for Outstanding Artists and Creators, and the ACUM Golden Feather Award.

Full biography →

Press and interviews

For review copies, interview requests, high-resolution artwork or press materials, please write to amoselkana@gmail.com.