Witold Lutosławski’s Slides was a gift for Elliott Carter’s 80th birthday (1988). The slides, the rapidly changing colourful images, are separated by short percussion signals.
The title of Chain I, written five years earlier, refers to the musical form of the work. “In a piece constructed in the shape of a chain, the music is divided into two strands (...). The beginning of a section in one strand falls in the middle of a section in the other,” the composer explains. The piece was written for London Sinfonietta. At first, it received a lukewarm reception; however, it has stood the test of time and is now performed quite frequently in concert halls.
The melodies in the first movement of Henryk Mikołaj Górecki’s Kleines Requiem für eine Polka, Op. 66 are reminiscent of plainsong – either single-part or multiplied in parallel. This is one of the composer’s most surprising works. The individual movements of the piece are striking in their contrasting moods, oscillating between seriousness and comedy.
In his 2012 piece linea dell'orizzonte, Beat Furrer is closer to Lutosławski’s style in his abstract thinking about sound figures. The title horizon line is invariably sought after. The composer used the phenomenon of shadows, which double and at the same time distort reality. Sound narratives intersect and mimic each other. What is the essence of things and what is the shadow of what? What separates these two worlds? The point is to be in doubt.
Carola Bauckholt decisively “brings us down to earth” with her 1995 piece Treibstoff. The artist has made the sounds of her surroundings and everyday life the hallmark of her work. These create a friendly, tame world that is surprisingly close to our everyday experience. Bauckholt’s music allows us to enjoy it, to find in its sounds something familiar. In this artistic outlook there is a tenderness towards everyday life, an idea of a hidden order that creates itself out of the diversity of the world.
Adam Suprynowicz