‘KINDERFREUDEN’ Five songs for voice in middle register and piano was composed in 2008 according to Wilhelm Busch’s (1832-1908) poems for a birthday concert in honour of Wilhelm Killmayer, duration 8 minutes, score at Schott Music ED 20534. I: DIE TÜTE (the bag), II: VERFRÜHT (too early), III: KURZ UND GROB (short and rough), IV: SELBSTGEFÄLLIG (self-complacent), V: MOTTO
TRAKL-TRÄUME. Meditations for lower voice and piano with texts by Georg Trakl.(1987), score at Schott Music ED 9512. By making use of the principles of Minimal Music (polycyclic sequences, rhythmic additions, subtractions), the peculiar climate of Georg Trakls’ poems is successfully portrayed: his confinement in obsessions, his fears, his cries, his drug intoxication. Recorded on the WERGO-CD ‘Musik und Dichtung’ (‘Music and Poetry’) with Andreas Schindler (baritone) and Adrian Baianu (piano).
SCHLÄFT EIN LIED IN ALLEN DINGEN (A Song Sleeps in all Things). Song cycle according to Joseph von Eichendorff for baritone (alto), flute and piano (1986), score through the author. Prosaic reinterpretation of the Eichendorff texts in a modern sound language while romantic impressions are maintained. Recorded on the WERGO-CD ‘Musik und Dichtung’ with Andreas Schindler(baritone), Burkhard Jäckle(flute) and Adrian Baianu(piano).
VIER GEDICHTE NACH HERMANN HESSE (Four Poems according to Hermann Hesse) for baritone (alto), marimbaphone and piano(1983), score through the author. Miniatures as inspired by A. Webern, which develop a sensual presence and have a rhythmic appeal in spite of the strict compositional techniques applied. Recorded on the WERGO-CD ‘Musik und Dichtung’ with Andreas Schindler (baritone), Stefan Blum (marimbaphone) und Adrian Baianu (piano).
SCHUBERT-GEDANKEN (Schubert Thoughts). Song cycle inspired by songs by Franz Schubert for baritone and piano quartet (Trout Quintet instrumentation), 1996; score through the Author. Three Schiller poems "Dithyrambe", "Gruppe aus dem Tartarus" and "Sehnsucht" are thought through by using Schubertian textures, where, in each song, a special kind of material change takes place. Premiere in the Hessisches Staatstheater Wiesbaden with Johann Werner Prein (baritone), Erika LeRoux (piano) and members of the Hessisches Staatsorchesters. Commissioned for the Mai Festspiele Wiesbaden.
DASS DEIN LIEBEN LIEBE WAR. Wolfgang Borchert-Liederbuch for soprano (tenor) and string quartet or string orchestra was premiered in the version for string quartet 1988 at the Staatstheater Wiesbaden with Raphaela Weil. Short miniature-like songs, especially featuring Borchert’s suggestive and lyrical texts. The version with orchestra was premiered with Tino Brütsch in Zürich/Switzerland.
INFANT SORROW. Four poems by William Blake for tenor, piano, saxophone, guitar and percussion. Composed for the Glassfarm Ensemble New York and premiered there in 2008. The two songs to ‘Chimneysweeper’ refer to child labour in England, where small children were put to clean chimneys for minimal wages. ‘Infant Sorrow’ is a perspective on Freudian psychoanalysis, where the father figure of the superego (generating moral repression) is eliminated within the meaning of the Oedipus Complex. In ‘Holy Thursday’, Blake makes no reference to Holy Thursday, but rather to the first Thursday in May, where annually children from orphanages and poorhouses are lead to the St. Pauls Church in a procession for the service.
The musical dramaturgy sees the innocent child’s soul in the tenor voice, who, unscathed, sees and believes only in the good. The instrumental parts (partly with detailed instrumental comments), however, take up the critical undertone of the poems, sometimes with a tendency to aggression or to silence.
DER ZIGARETTENANZÜNDER (The Cigarette Lighter) for voice, trumpet, piano, electric guitar and double bass, texts from an original manual for automobiles, composed in 2005 for a performance of the 8th ADevantgardefestivals in the Munich Academy of Fine Arts with Moritz Eggert. Naughty and malicious satire.
SO ICH MICH SELBER LESE ... Three meditations for high voice and organ, according to texts by Jakob Böhme, (1987/88, sheet music through the author). The texts of the Görlitz mystic J. Böhme(1575-1624) belong to the most profound ideas of the western world. The movements are ‘So ich mich selber lese …‘, ‘… eine kleine Welt aus der großen‘ and ‘das große Buch Himmel‘. Recorded on the WERGO-CD ‘Klänge des Lichts’ with Renate Düerkop and Harald Feller.
TENEBRAE. Trope for soprano, violin and organ. A trope according to the motet "Tenebrae factus sunt" by the Dutch master Davide Perez; 1990, score at Schott Music ED9668. The 20-minute work, artfully oscillates between the medieval archaic world (Hoketus), opera emotionalism à la Verdi or Gounod and avant-garde sounds and has been performed very often. The violin part especially provides space for an opulent unfolding of sound. Recorded on the WERGO-CD "Klänge des Lichts" with Renate Düerkop.
FIVE ROSES. Five songs for alto voice and organ (2002); Score through the author, texts according to medieval templates translated by Michael Korth, English version Dean Wilmington. The ‘rose’ is an enigmatic symbol of the religious and mystic world, it symbolises Mary, innocence, passion and sorrow.
IM NAMEN DER ROSE. Requiem for countertenor (alto voice) and organ. Texts by Michael Korth according to medieval templates, English version by Dean Wilmington. Score (German/English) through the author. A 40-minute cycle, premiered by Derek Lee Ragin (the voice of ‘Farinelli’ in the same-named cinema film) and by organist Johannes Skudlik in 2002 in the Konzerthaus Dortmund. Structure: Five ‘roses’ (positively occupied texts) are contrasted with five ‘thorns’ (documentary texts of witch-hunting, torture, peasants’ revolts etc.), each time rounded off by an organ interlude. Gradually, the text fragments of a depressing Requiem come to light.