The Power of Musick - feat. Greis
The Power of Musick for choir, orchestra, soloists and rapper is my first collaboration with Swiss rapper Greis. The work is based on Haendel and Purcell's Ode to St. Cecilia, the patron saint of music and hails music as an all-encompassing, universal power.
The 35-minute composition tries to explore new ways of combining Baroque music with contemporary Hip Hop and was premiered at KKL Luzern and recieved further performances in Aarau and Baden.
The project was highly successful and received an encore three years later with the premiere of a new work No pasaran!, based on the true story of Swiss volunteers fighting in the Spanish civil war.
Watch a short feature from Swiss television.
Zum Teufel mit der Brücke - The Legend of the Devil's Bridge
This full'length work was written for Konzertchor Klangwerk and its conductor Moana Labbate.
It is based on the legend of the devil's brige near the Gotthard Pass in the canton of Uri, Switzerland: in the olden days the people of Uri made a pact with the devil in order to build a bridge over the hitherto unsurmountable Schöllenen gorge.
It is set for choir, soloists, instrumental ensemble and narrator. The use of operatic elements, such as arias, recitatives and the choir as commentator, help to unfold the musical drama.
The libretto was written by Luc Bachmann who also acted as narrator.
Performances at KKL Luzern and Theater Uri in Altdorf.
"Hodels Musik schlägt raffinierte Brücken zwischen (Volksmusik)Tradition und aktuellen Klängen und findet zu einem unverbraucht-eigenen Ton... Griffig charakterisiert sind die starken Solistencharaktere - bis zur kleinen, expressiven Arie des Landammans, dem nervösen Swing des Teufels und der innigen Wärme des Mütterchens. Das gibt dem Stück bis zum versöhnlichen Schluss musikalisch eine Steigerung..."
Urs Mattenberger, Luzerner Zeitung