Lachenmann: Cradle-Music

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Description

World première: Darmstadt, April 1, 1964

In his continual guest to critique and transcend conventional notions of the "beautiful in music", Lachenmann has made frequent use of "marginalised" instrumental sounds. in "Wiegenmusik" and the earlier "Echo Andante", the after-sounds or resonances of piano notes are assigned a role of equal importance to that of the sounds themselves (a concept later to become of immense importance in the piano concerto "Ausklang" from 1984). Lachenmann spoke of his wish to create "constellations" of intervals from tonal chords to clusters. At the beginning of the work, the activity of both sounding notes and resonances is at its most intense; through the course of the piece the music calms (the title means "Cradle Music"), and pedallings become more sustained. The tonal fragments (such as the notable in E Major arpeggio) become like remnants of the past, interjecting this new evolving continuum. Ian Pace (2000) (program notes for the Huddersfield Festival 2000)