Drei Aquarelle (Three Watercolors) (2017)
(for clarinet, violin, violoncello and piano)

Like a painting created with watercolours, the ‘Three Watercolours’ series of works is about subtle traces of colour, delicate structures and their overlapping, transparency, various mixing ratios and the intensification of colours and shapes when the means are condensed. Different energy levels, degrees of density and states of tension are negotiated in differentiated interaction with delicate, fragile sound elements: For example, the contrast between the offensive conciseness of the partially prepared piano and the shadowy entries of the strings. Or the exploration of the clarinet's subtle gestures, which are sometimes generated from air noises and sometimes unfold a broad palette of tonal oscillation. A gradual overlapping of different sound objects leads to an intensification of the events, which is accompanied by climaxes. Towards the end, there is a change of perspective, the sounds seem to be behind a pane of frosted glass and finally as disembodied as if an aeolian harp were catching the wind.

Eckhard Weber