Weight and Load #1
for bass flute/flute, clarinet, bassoon, piano, violin, violoncello and electronics
Weight and Load is a contemplation on two chords, locked in their own solidity and yet in constant motion – they alternate between subtle and tangible shifts, common or individual deviations. It is inspired by Stockhausen’s piano piece IX, but there is no antithesis in ‘Weight and Load’, nor is there a synthesis. There are windows that point to uninhabitable sound spaces and chords that embody different worlds. “Weight” stands for the immovable heaviness, the sheer mass that presses on a structure, while “load” captures the dynamic burden – that which shapes, deforms or even threatens to break the framework. Heiner Müller’s quote ‘Only strong forms help against pain’ also accompanied me like a mantra in this composition.
The fact that I am actually writing here right now a text about chords and structures has to do with another quote by Müller: “What I analyse cannot depress me” – whether this is actually the case, I dare to doubt, but the thought that it could actually be the case gives me hope.