a bit of bungling on the battlefield
piano, vl, cello- sound sample
6. Dezember 2011, Kulturhaus Helferei, Zürich
7. Dezember 2011, Salle Ansermet, Genf
6. März 2012, University of Edinbourgh, Edinbourgh
9. März 2012, St Lukes, London
16. März 2012, Théatre du Pommier
Anna Brunner, Violin
Péter Somodari, Violoncello
Benjamin Engeli, piano
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The title of this piece, “a bit of bungling on the battlefield”, is taken from a sentence out of John Banville’s novel The Infinities. My composition admittedly has nothing to do with either The Infinities or with the story of Amphitryon and Thebes referenced in this quote. However, while writing music I often find myself in a mental state resembling a battlefield. Sometimes a wrong decision can kill a whole section, and often I find myself stumbling among bloody leftovers of musical ideas, some of which I leave to rot and die, while others I patch up and resurrect. Is any of this musical triaging reasonable? Does the bungling serve any higher purpose? I leave it to the listener to judge—but in the end I would argue that music, like life, is inherently a form of blind fumbling, while combat of one kind or another is as integral to human nature as illness or recovery.