Miniature semplici for Ensemble (2005)

The Harmonic material of Miniature semplici derives from a simple, mechanical, directionally developing series of ever-increasing intervals. At certain stages of its development, this process of generating harmony allows intervals that were long considered taboo in New Music. These sounds are moments of a process of becoming that aims for a “natural” integration of the heterogeneous. Alongside this integrating openness, the second fundamental aspect of the piece is simplicity: a study on musical “everyday” trifles (“miniatures”), their relationship to one another and the intermittent tendency to strive for independence. The form – not unlike that of “Drei mal Drei” – is the result of the treatment of the ensemble: after an introductory passage, utilizing the entire ensemble, the first main section of the piece presents the miniatures using “ensembles” within the ensemble. In the second main section, each of the 19 instrumentalists emerges (even if only briefly) as a soloist. The third main section re-synthesizes the previously fragmented ensemble in a coda-like overlapping of various layers. The piece was composed as part of the second International Composition Seminar of the International Ensemble Modern Academy and is dedicated to the Ensemble and Roland Diry.