VWV 90 · Orchestral · 2026 ·
Was It Worth the Climbing
Choral Symphony
Editor's Choice · Gramophone- Catalogue
- VWV 90
- Key
- C minor → C major (unresolved)
- Form
- Choral Symphony
- Scoring
- Baritone, chorus & orchestra
- Composed
- 2026
- Duration
- 10:29
First performed Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg · 21 March 2027 — Nikolai Voss, baritone · NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester · Chor des NDR
Commissioned by the Elbphilharmonie
To those still climbing
The crowning work of the entire catalogue: a single-movement choral symphony in which the baritone, having walked the length of so much darkness, finally turns to face the dawn and asks whether the light is worth the climbing. Voss builds the ascent in Brucknerian terraces, the chorus entering only in the final span; the radiance it reaches is deliberately left unresolved — a question the music refuses, magnificently, to answer for us.
From Orchestral Visions · NV-007
Performance materials +
- Forces
- Baritone, chorus & orchestra
- Tessitura
- Baritone solo (G2–F4)
- Materials
- Full score, Study score, Set of orchestral parts, Choral score
- Availability
- On hire · Voss Editions
- Grade
- Advanced — professional ensemble
- ISMN
- 979-0-706090-630-1
