Happy Birthday Yukiko Watanabe!

The winner of the Ö1 Talentebörse – Kompositionspreis 2011 on her work ver_flies_sen:

This piece's German title has three meanings, all of which are phonically unrelated in English: Fliese (= n.: tile), fließen (= v.i.: to flow, to stream) and verfließen (= v.i. pass by).

I had started writing the piece when I saw the beautiful picture O Hungaro (The Hungarian) by the Brazilian artist Adriana Varejão, in which she depicts a tiled swimming pool. The tiles – all of them of identical - seem to be contorted, due to the water.

That became the inspiration for my piece. First, I built the fundament – nine invisible layers, all of them moving in different tempi; then I placed suitable notes overtop.

The music is in constant motion, sometimes losing its shape inscrutably, like tiles in the water or vague old memories as one looks back on them.