opening statement
Ralf Yusuf Gawlick, was born in Germany of Romani-Kurdish descent and have lived, worked, and studied on both sides of the Atlantic. In the last decades, through my wife, Poland became my adopted country. The multiplicity of these cultural and professional experiences has profoundly helped shape my compositional voice. The structural fabrics, psychological developments, and dramatic intentions of my music seek to engage the listener's emotions and intellect to lead him/her through the essential aesthetic experience.
In my music I wish to address issues of the human condition. This may take the form of sociopolitical criticism, setting musically images of human frailty and strength, of human hypocrisy and glory, of giving thanks, of redemption and hope, and reflecting on matters of spiritual and existential import.
My life experiences and deep involvement with the other arts both inspire and directly resonate in my work. From Kochanowski through Cervantes, Brecht and Eliot, from Stwosz through Raphael, Kollwitz and Matisse, my compositional signatures spring from an encompassing and engrossing artistic vision.
Biography
Ralf Yusuf Gawlick
Ralf Yusuf Gawlick, of Romani-Kurdish descent, was born in Germany in 1969. His works include solo, chamber, orchestral, electro-acoustic, film and choral music, traversing a wide range of styles and often exploring aspects of his complex international heritage. His music has been commissioned and
championed by a wide range of artists and organizations, attracting international acclaim from audiences and critics. In recent years his electro-acoustic work Herzliche Grüße Bruno ~ Briefe aus Stalingrad (recorded by Baritone Georg Gädker and pianists Moritz Ernst and Chi-Chen Wu), eight-voice Missa Gentis Humanæ (commissioned by the Choir of Trinity Church, Wall Street), song cycle Kollwitz-Konnex (…im Frieden seiner Hände (dedicated to guitarist Eliot Fisk and soprano Anne Harley) and the autobiographical Imagined Memories (commissioned by the Vienna-based Hugo Wolf Quartet) have exemplified his remarkably diverse output, with its frequent references to the highlights of the Western musical canon and rigorous compositional standards. His music, published by several firms, has been performed internationally (in venues including Vienna’s Musikverein, New York’s Carnegie Hall and Konzerthaus Berlin) and is recorded on the Musica Omnia and Perfect Noise labels in composer-supervised performances by the works’ dedicatees. A professor at Boston College, Ralf Gawlick lives in Newton, MA, with his wife and fellow musician, Basia.