Gedichte zu Prometheus

Composer´s notes

The myth of Prometheus is connected with the struggle for knowledge. The Greek word for this is gnosis - a mixture of knowledge, search for truth and being initiated. These different perspectives help to see the myth in a new way. For this composition I was inspired to deal with the question of tradition and our roots: to recognize myself in them, and to transfer them musically to the present.

The four poems can be performed between some parts of Beethoven's Prometheus cycle, as they were played at the premiere of my piece. They can also be performed independently, as a four-part composition.

An important dramaturgical idea in the composition is to create an apparent "restlessness" in all four poems. This is achieved by - among other things - frequent changes of time and melodies. In this way, I would like to express musically the inner struggle, the different forces of Prometheus, and how he is influenced by the gods.

In Poem No. 1, the time changes occur in a dance-like fast tempo, and at the same time there is a striking melodic dialogue between different instrumental groups. Sudden dramatic chords interrupt this dialogue, which is taken over by subtle pianissimo passages as the piece draws to a close. 

In Poem No. 2, the time changes continue, but in a slow, cantabile and rubato tempo. The clarinet plays a main melody over a tutti ostinato, and this mood dominates for a while. As the main melody progresses, it is taken over soloistically by several instruments, so that it seems to wander in a loop of repetition. The poem ends with a unisono sound in the last four bars, intended as a commentary on the previous action.

In Poem No. 3, the strings have a strongly dynamic, noisy, and rhythmic role throughout. This is only “commented on" and tonally taken over by all the other groups in a few passages. The end of this poem is furioso and dynamic, in tutti. 

Poem No. 4 is a mixture of elements from the first three poems - as if the apparent "restlessness" has found a solution. In this piece there are longer passages in 2/4 time, but with strong, different rhythms. Finally, the concertmaster, together with the 2nd violins' part leader and the clarinetist, play a melody as an alternating dialogue, in response to everything that has sounded so far. The piece, and thus the entire composition, ends with intense tutti chords that radiate the energy of an ending and, at the same time, a beginning.