Psalm 22
My God, why have you forsaken me 2025
With his large-scale setting of Psalm 22, Christoph JK Müller has created a stunning choral work. He translates the vivid language of the biblical text into modern, compelling sounds: the result is a combination of memorable melodies, powerful rhythms, and a coherent dramaturgy. The composition impressively explores the contrast between loneliness, exclusion, and hostility on the one hand, and trust in God, devotion, and perseverance on the other — an emotional struggle for hope in times of crisis.
The work was commissioned by the Landesakademie für die musizierende Jugend Baden-Württemberg in Ochsenhausen and premiered at the international choral festival C.H.O.I.R. Psalm 22 is an exciting repertoire highlight, and not just for ambitious ensembles.
The scoring is modular: the complete version includes a rhythm section (piano, double bass, percussion), winds (alto saxophone, trumpet, tenor trombone), and four-part string section. However, the work can also be performed without strings (small band), without winds (rhythm section only), or even with piano alone.
After 40 minutes of intense music, the ear is overflowing with pulsating rhythms and catchy melodies – a multifaceted and thrilling experience that stays with and moves both performers and listeners long after the concert is over.
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Composer
Christoph JK Müller
| 1989After studying school music, artistic piano playing, jazz and orchestral conducting in Stuttgart, Karlsruhe and Lisbon, Christoph JK Müller was directly engaged as a répétiteur at the Stuttgart State Opera. This was followed by an engagement as Kapellmeister and director of the Junge Oper at the Dortmund Theatre, where he conducted numerous operas as well as operettas, musicals, ballets and concerts. His artistic highlights include the world premiere of Avner Dorman's ‘The Sultan's Children’, the German premiere of the 3rd version of Gaspare Sponini's ‘Fernand Cortez’ and the musical production ‘Songs for a new world’ by Jason Robert Brown. In addongs for a new world venues, he has been a welcome guest, for example at the Pfalztheater Kaiserslautern and the Bonn Opera.
In addition to his work as a conductor, Christoph JK Müller is also active as an arranger. His arrangements and compositions have been regularly published by Carus-Verlag for over ten years. He has also written theatre music for the theatres in Heidelberg and Dortmund.
As a pianist, Christoph JK Müller enjoys the diverse wealth of notated and unnotated music. He has performed Beethoven's 3rd and 4th concertos as a piano soloist, and improvisation as a musical creation in the moment, with or without a model, is an integral part of his musical expression and identity, for which he received two awards, including at the 11th National Competition for Practical Piano Playing in Schools in 2012.
Christoph JK Müller has been working as a lecturer in orchestral conducting at the UdK Berlin since 2022. Right at the beginning of his tenure, he founded the Sinfonietta of the UdK Berlin, a dynamic ensemble that is both the institute's concert orchestra and an inspiring field of experimentation for student teachers specialising in orchestral conducting.
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