Mumien

The composer’s note for
this short but spectacular piece is both laconic and inscrutable

mummified – wrapped
up – concealed

dried up – parched
– leathery traces of memory

dissecting –
opening of spots of barely a square centimetre –

elder-berries in
the stomach

sampling of fabric
– under the microscope the nanokosmos is exploding

This vision of dissected dessication
is hard to relate to the music. It opens fiercely and gets fiercer.

Obsessive repeated
notes are surrounded by elusive harmonies. The prepared piano conjures up an
extraordinary range of fascinating sounds. Its jagged hammering quickly
explodes into stinging unrelenting bursts. These return in different form in
the rhythmically intense second movement. Most disconcerting is a moment
towards the end of the other-worldly final movement when the repeated notes on
the piano become inseparable from pizzicato cello.