Faber Music Ltd is delighted to announce the signing of an exclusive publishing agreement with the young German composer Torsten Rasch (b. 1965).

In 2003, with the premiere and subsequent Deutsche Gramophon release of his astonishing orchestral song cycle Mein Herz brennt, Rasch suddenly found himself thrust into the new music spotlight in his native Germany, following some 14 years spent living in Japan writing TV and film scores in relative obscurity.

Far from a typical cycle, the 65-minute work takes its text and musical inspiration from existing songs by the hugely popular German industrial metal band Rammstein, who first hit the international rock scene in the mid-1990s and who now have sold over 7 million albums worldwide.

Despite its inspiration, Rasch’s work, traces, quite surprisingly, the lineage of Mahler, Berg and Zemlinsky with hardly any reference to popular musical language at all. (In fact, the only strong connection between Rammstein and Mein Herz brennt are the lyrics themselves.) With the addition of a speaking part there is also a subliminal homage to Kurt Weill via the guttural vocal stylings of Lotte Lenya.

Mein Herz brennt was commissioned and premiered by the Dresdner Sinfoniker and John Carewe, with the solo parts taken by celebrated operatic bass René Pape and renowned actress Katharina Thalbach. Following the first performances in Dresden and Berlin, DG released the disc as part of their 20/21 series. It won Best World Premiere Recording at the 2004 Echo Classical Awards in Munich.

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