Repertoire
Damask’s core repertoire is written specifically for four solo voices — a combination far rarer, and far more intimate, than the standard vocal ensemble literature. The quartet moves fluidly between three strands:
Romantic quartets with piano
The 19th-century heart of the repertoire: Brahms’s Liebeslieder Walzer and Vier Quartette, Schumann’s Spanische Liebeslieder, and the lesser-known but equally rewarding cycles of Heinrich von Herzogenberg and Gustav Jenner — Brahms’s only formal composition student.
Modern and contemporary works
A cappella and instrumentally-accompanied quartets from the 20th and 21st centuries, including music by Milhaud, Messiaen, Stravinsky, Schönberg, Ned Rorem, and David Lang — whose Little Match Girl Passion the quartet performs with each singer doubling on percussion.
New commissions
Damask actively commissions new work for vocal quartet, having premiered pieces by Gregory Spears, Reiko Füting, Lewis Nielson and Federico Mosquera, and new arrangements by Matthijs van de Woerd and Raphael Fusco.
Interested in programming Damask, or commissioning a new work? Get in touch via the contact page.