Aus Schmerz und Trauer - Unaccompanied Alto Saxophone (or Clarinet)

Aus Schmerz und Trauer ("Out of pain and grief") was born in a time of great mental crisis. The private situation is reflected in a series of encryptions, similar to those used by Alban Berg in his plays. Nevertheless, I believe that the composition is not a purely private expression. "From Pain and Sorrow" names the situation rather than the pure content: by no means a mere mourning music. More objective, generally comprehensible musical imagery, which I have developed from my preoccupation with folklore and working-class culture, is just as important for the selection of material. The compositional technique of my last pieces, not to start from fixed, unchangeable quantities, but to constantly change, transform, push into each other within easily recognisable expressive and material characteristics (tone, melody/line, chord/polyphony), is further developed here. Composition becomes a fluid process, driven by contrasts and their mutual influence.