| duration | 9’ |
| year | 2008–09 |
| for | baritone, violin, bass clarinet, piano, percussion, computer |
| downloads | SCORE |
Commissioned by Autumn in Warsaw for the Ensemble Kwartludium
Ensemble Kwartludium
voice: Frank Wörner
cond: Eduardo Moguillansky
rohrpost: pneumatic mail, used to transport letters and small objects by means of compressed air
some text fragments are used, taken from the last pages of Kafka’s Tagebücher
…immer ängstlicher in niederschreiben (…) Jedes Wort, gewendet in der Hand der Geister –dieser Schwung der Hand ist ihre charakteristische Bewegung – wird zum Spieß, gekehrt gegen den Sprecher. Und so ins Unendliche. Der Trost wäre nur: es geschieht ob Du willst oder nicht. Und was Du willst, hilft nur unmerklich wenig. Mehr als Trost ist: Auch Du hast Waffen (…) wie der Wind uns in den Arsch bläst (…)
the piece consists in a series of snapshots of one single gesture, multiplied in an infinite matrix of reflections.
From all the commissions premiered in the Festival, one is worth a longer mention. The argentinian Eduardo Moguillansky, whose piece had been cancelled for technical reasons in last year`s edition of Warsaw Autumn, came back this year with “rohrpost”, a piece for voice and ensemble. It was really worth the wait! The voice part was in charge of baritone Frank Wörner, who has a long experience in extended singing techniques. The voice was joined by the sounds of piano, percussion, clarinet and violin, also used in new ways, making the piece sound like bizarre machinations -music built from short, dynamic scraps, phonemes, strange colors and atmospheres. (…) Together they form a mosaic-crafted polyphony. “rohrpost” is not just an abstract sound composition, but a music made of attempts, of impotence, music from horror and fascination of the post-digital world. Very innovative.
Ewa Szczecinska, Polish Radio II and Dwutygodnik (strona kultury), IX.2009