Die Stücke der Windrose (1988)
(Zyklus)

While still working on the sketches for the cycle of works, I made the decision to change the geographical locations of my musical contemplation often. It may be that this has something to do with being born in the southern hemisphere. When one has spent the first and formative part of one’s life there, particular experiences, yearnings and schematic pictures and illusions become associated with the different points of the compass - and these are diametrically opposed to the corresponding emotions and feelings of Europeans.

Even today, I do not regard the south as the embodiment of heat, but rather of cold: Patagonia, Tierra del Fuego and Antarctica. The North, on the other hand, is anything but cold: relentless sun and sharply defined shadows, sultry humidity, desert landscapes and drought. To some people, the term “The Middle East”, for instance, means an eastern or oriental cultural area, but to others who live in the Far East it evokes the exact opposite. Our conceptions tend to be simplifications composed of fleeting or permanent impressions from journeys, lectures and experiences, from likes and dislikes. If, after a few bars, one feels transported to the place intimated, we, as listeners, can perhaps then enrich the atmosphere of the piece by recalling fragments of our musical memories or experiences at the place itself.

One may interpret the places of the salon pieces as a compositum sui generis, where analysis and synthesis meet prudently in order to emphasise the relativity of the points of the compass. It was hardly to be expected that all 32 sub-divisions of the compass would inspire me to just as many pieces: but at any rate I did want to write eight pieces. Every point of the four quadrants North, East, South and West threw down a challenge to carry out a difficult reconnaissance. And it remained a constant challenge in the realisation of the cycle to compose again and again for the same line-up of clarinet, piano, harmonium, two violins, viola, cello and double bass, with only the percussion instruments changing from one piece to the other.

M. K.