Die Stücke der Windrose (1993)
(Westen / Ragtime)

This composition originally formed the last section of Westen, one of the eight works from the cycle Die Stücke der Windrose for salon orchestra.
The decisive difference between the two versions is the flexibility with which the number of instrumentalists involved can be determined. Thus, this score can be realized in all possible variations from solo piano to nine instruments, provided that the piano is always included in the respective instrumentation. The other instruments are: Clarinet, harmonium, two violins, viola, violoncello, double bass and percussion.

When I was composing Westen, I decided to treat the piano as an obligatory instrument and to write a corresponding movement for it. Over time, I realized that this ragtime was more than a basic texture with which the other instruments were in constant counterpoint. The independence of the part is represented above all in the peculiar mixture of manual and “mechanical” piano. This, I believe, is how a ragtime can sing at once bizarre and familiar.

M.K.
(Translation by Edition Peters)