- Rebecca Saunders
Hauch II (2021)
(for solo viola)- Henry Litolff’s Verlag GmbH & Co. KG (World)
2018/2021
First performed on 4 November 2021 at Now! Festival in Essen by Megumi Kasakawa (Ensemble Modern)
Programme Note
Hauch n. (German):
Hauch has no exact translation in English. It is a trace, touch, hint, tinge, soupçon, tang, wisp, or a breath of something.
It implies a suggestion or intimation of the thing: a shadow, an aura, a glimmer hidden beneath the surface.
Hauch is a solo study exploring pianissimo timbral nuances at the top of the lowest violin strings; tracing fragments of melody, drawn on a thread in and out of silence.
Surface, weight and touch of musical performance: the bow drawing the sound out of silence; the slightest differentiation of touch on the string; the expansion of the muscles between the shoulder blades; the player´s in-breath preceeding the played tone...
The fallible physical body behind the sound: feeling the weight of sound, exploring the essence of a timbre.
RS