Pamela Hickman: “...This concert was also the setting for a unique world premiere - three songs from Jaap Nico Hamburger's "Songs in Times of Honour" to poems of Else Lasker-Schüler. ...scored for soprano and baroque instruments. ... Soprano Daniela Skorka and the instrumentalists displayed close teamwork in presenting these three thought-provoking-, indeed, disquieting mood pieces. Opening with the eerie sounds of violin and percussion, "Meine Mutter" (My Mother) reflects the poet's pain and longing for her mother, "the great angel who walked at my side". In "Abschied" (Leave-taking), a woman awaits her lover, her anguish intertwining with the rhythms of a dance that will not be danced, an effective and sinister collage of sound, with Skorka adding a few touches of tambourine sound to the effect. "Ich Weiss" (I Know), coloured in tranquil, veiled dissonances, shows Lasker-Schüler ruminating on her own death, the death of a poet...In this third haunting and powerful piece, Hamburger gives its final say to a solo viola. A fine choice of texts, Lasker-Schüler's poems speak in a direct and articulate voice. No less articulate, Hamburger's music, modal in language, is not overloaded, not opaque, as he paints with delicate brush strokes. Skorka addresses each notion with finely shaped gestures and sensitivity, her outstanding performance reflecting deep enquiry into each of the poems. Born in Holland, Jaap Nico Hamburger today lives in Canada.”