Die Stücke der Windrose (1988)
(Osten)

Which east?

Not the near nor the far, but the diffuse region ante portas, which already begins and ends at the rivers Oder and Neisse... but where?

If I may be a little generous with geographical data, then the scenario of this short piece takes place somewhere between Transcarpathia and the Gulf of Finland: I'm sitting in 3rd class on one of those fabulous trains that run between Kishinev and Ivano-Frankovsk, Balassagyarmat and Hódmezövásárhely, Kamenez-Podolski and Piotroków Trybunalski. A group of musicians who look as if they've just stepped out of yellowed photo albums are on board. They begin to play for me. The rolling stage set demands a fast-paced performance; snatches of melody and characteristic rhythms change faster than the haltingly passing villages.

Certainly: in my private musical cosmology, I always give the East a bonus.

M.K.
(Translation by Edition Peters)