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There is one thing that Lachenmann’s Kinderspiel (1980) and Schumann’s Kinderszenen have in common: Neither of them is a piece for children. For both the poetic sonic universe created by Schumann and the structural patterns of Lachenmann’s aesthetics are incompatible with the fantastic world of a child’s soul. “Childhood and the musical experiences associated with it are an integral component of the inner life of any adult,” said Lachenmann. “Thus it seems important to me not to push away into an abstract domain the changes to the listening experience and to aesthetic behavior that I have proposed in my pieces, but to begin with the ‘provocation’ wherever the listener (as well as the composer) feels at home, snug and secure.” The result is easy to play and easy to grasp: a children’s game that does not make any aesthetic compromises. The Wiegenmusik (1963) “gradually approaches, after initial compressions, a state of complete rest: ‘the child falling asleep’, as a psychogram, as it were.” (Lachenmann) ...
... Guero (1970), revised by Lachenmann in 1988, is “a study for the pianist who is being separated from his acquired pianistic mastery and forced to find himself as a musician; in its strict invocation of the ‘non-sound’, it is also a study for the listener himself.” (Lachenmann) Echo Andante (1961-62) owes its inspiration to Luigi Nono. Lachenmann himself accords to it a role in his oeuvre similar to that Berg and Webern accorded to their respective pieces op. 1, their final pieces of work as apprentices with Schönberg – “they are looking back in conclusion while looking ahead to the future as they depart.” (Lachenmann) Apart from its technical, instrumental and compositional peculiarities, Serynade (1997/98) is first and foremost “a piece about composing music as metaphor for the thrilling adventures of human existence, and about the attempt to be as human as possible.” (Marino Formenti) |
1CD | Contemporary | Instrumental | Piano |
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“The immediacy of sounding eruptions”: Gran Torso and Salut für Caudwell in exemplary recordings by the famous Berner Streichquartett, and the guitar duo Bruck/Ross.  |
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| Resonance and motion take center stage in Allegro Sostenuto. Lachenmann’s “idea of a musique concrète” bears remarkable fruit in Pression and Dal niente. |
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