Kammermusik IV

„Kammermusik IV“ is another piece in a series of chamber music compositions that deal with the relation between idiomatic individual and collective playing. While „Kammermusik III“ had a stronger focus on the individual „musical dialect“ of an instrument/player, in „Kammermusik IV“ small combinations of instruments (mixture sound) form various „individual“ groups within the overall framework.

After an introduction related to all eight following episodes/groupings in form of anticipating compressed fragments, every group plays its individual character and tone. These eight episodes/groupings are further unified by a main pitch for each section, a certain interaction of the respective main instruments, and some „comments“ by other instruments or secondary groupings.

Here the comparison with a house seems to be convenient. The “musical house” represents a secure framework and the listener so-to-speak roves through the various rooms with their respective possibilities of experience. Yet, they all have a latent morbidity with a tendency to fall apart.

The final section is regarded as a sharp „neglecting“ comment from outside about these eight seemingly “secure” but apparently fragile sections that form the main body of the piece. It resembles the crumbling of the walls of that “house”.

The vocal part does not use any text and is treated like another instrument and not as a soloist. But the specific intensity contributes significantly to the expression of the composition.

“Kammermusik IV” is dedicated to Christine Muschaweckh.

Post Scriptum: On the day of finishing the rough version of the score, December 26, 2004, the Tsunami disaster happened in Southeast Asia. Out of personal biographical reasons it is obvious that I was seriously shocked by that catastrophe. Therefore I would like to regard this composition also in remembrance of the victims of that disaster, although it was composed before.