Michael Hersch - Zwischen Leben und Tod (Peter Sheppard Skærved; Roderick Chadwick)

Information

Composer: Michael Hersch

• Zwischen Leben und Tod

Peter Sheppard Skærved, violin

Roderick Chadwick, piano

Date: 2026

Label: Métier

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Métier Records presents Zwischen Leben und Tod (Between Life and Death), a monumental chamber work by Michael Hersch performed by violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved and pianist Roderick Chadwick. Spanning 22 movements and lasting approximately 100 minutes, the work draws inspiration from the paintings of surrealist artist and playwright Peter Weiss, with each movement responding to a specific visual image. Blending haunting lyricism with intense technical and emotional demands, the cycle explores themes of isolation, violence, grief, and fragile humanity through extremes of texture, tempo, and dynamics. While much of the music conveys a raw and unsettling atmosphere, moments of tenderness and reflection emerge throughout, creating a deeply cathartic listening experience. Widely recognized for the emotional intensity and complexity of his music, Hersch crafts a work that is both psychologically immersive and profoundly moving.

Peter Sheppard Skærved is a pioneering violinist renowned for his extensive engagement with both contemporary and historical repertoire, with over 400 works written for him by composers including Judith Weir, Michael Finnissy, Jörg Widmann, and Howard Skempton, among many others. His career is distinguished by a deep commitment to solo violin literature, including acclaimed interpretations of works by Bach, Tartini, Telemann, and de Bériot, as well as curatorial projects such as Preludes and Vollenteries, which revives early violin repertoire in dialogue with historic London churches. Skærved also works extensively at the intersection of music and visual art, collaborating with major institutions such as the National Gallery of Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Victoria and Albert Museum. As founder of the Kreutzer Quartet and artistic director of Longbow Ensemble, he has shaped a distinctive artistic profile combining performance, scholarship, and interdisciplinary collaboration, while also serving as Viotti Lecturer and Fellow at the Royal Academy of Music.

Roderick Chadwick is a British pianist, teacher, and music writer known for his focus on challenging contemporary and twentieth-century repertoire. He has performed major works for solo piano, including Helmut Lachenmann’s Serynade and the first complete performance since 1969 of Jeremy Dale Roberts’s Tombeau. A frequent collaborator with leading experimental ensembles such as CHROMA Ensemble and Plus-Minus Ensemble, Chadwick has also worked closely with violinist Peter Sheppard Skærved on recordings spanning modern and historical repertoire. His discography includes acclaimed recordings for Métier and Divine Art featuring composers such as Michael Finnissy, David Gorton, and Mihailo Trandafilovski, as well as landmark interpretations of works by Karlheinz Stockhausen. Alongside his performance career, Chadwick is a scholar of Olivier Messiaen’s Catalogue d’oiseaux, co-authoring a study of the work and performing it extensively. He is currently a Reader in Music at the Royal Academy of Music.