Commissioned by chor.com 2021, Michael Ostrzyga, together with choir director Cornelius Trantow, endeavored to specifically develop choir music that is easy to moderately difficult and innovative and appealing. This resulted in three impactful miniatures besides ventures that have not (yet) been pursued further: by the numbers, Crossing the Bar and Farout (2018 VG18). Even if they could not be more different, they are fascinating and at the same time accessible for choirs and listeners alike.
Crossing the Bar is based on the impressive text by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. The harmonies (initially diatonic clusters) formed by means of melodic movements alternate with music that shifts major and minor sounds in an ingenious misalignment (mostly ascending).