Phantasiestück (1987)
(for flute and piano or flute and ensemble)

It is comforting to know that it is still not possible to imagine anything precise under the meaningful term fantasy in connection with music. Sure: here and there the titles of certain pieces, movements or sections are brought to mind. But a precise definition of the happiness-giving word, which is the envy of those who have such fantasies, requires literally what one is trying to describe in concrete terms. Whether ...antasia is a state of mind, an almost rhapsodic style of performance or the ability to convey fleeting phenomena as vividly as possible, one thing remains striking: any sharp demarcation is unjust. Even the subtle difference between F and Ph makes interpretation here a rewarding subject for rephrasing and spelling. Where could I have found a more appropriate way to honor the recurring commemoration of the anniversary of Arno Schmidt's death?

I conceived the formal course of my Phantasiestück with an ambivalence that is perhaps similar to the double spelling of the term: only flute and piano, as obligatory instruments, may be visible; conductor and accompaniment (i.e. clarinet, bass clarinet, violin, viola, violoncello) remain hidden behind screens or in another part of the room. However, the work can also be performed without accompaniment, because the composition consists of the progression of two dependent-independent levels, which are united in a common score.

This is why I have chosen as the motto of this work a sentence from de la Motte Fouqué's letter of March 23, 1833 to his future wife Albertine Tode, which Arno Schmidt quotes in his study of the Romantic writer: So da capo, or rather dal segno, dear unmusical child!

Da capo al fine yes, but always different.

M.K.
(Translation by Edition Peters)