Description

Divagations was commissioned by the Bremer Schlagzeugensemble in summer 2022 and is dedicated to Olaf Tzschoppe. The composition takes us into a rich world of sonic digressions and playful combinations that explore the potential of percussion instruments in a new way.

The work consists mainly of percussion instruments of indeterminate pitch, arranged around a series of membranophones (bass drum, tomtoms, rototoms, snare drum, conga and bongos) and complemented by other idiophones such as vessels, scrapers, rattles, clappers and chimes. The use of pitched percussion instruments, such as cowbells, crotales and pots, extends the range of the ensemble by a few fi xed pitches.

Starting from a relative balance between the membranophones and the idiophones, the tonal focus shifts first to the membranophones, then to the idiophones and finally back to a mixture of both. In the flow of the piece, fricative brush noises, which resemble a murmuring phonation, change into a rattling, and scattered pulsations develop into polyrhythms. The result is a multitude of constellations of sonic possibilities that often lead to unexpected combinations and overlap.

The writing is based on the flow of ideas: Each idea is taken up, changed, reinterpreted and constantly developed, with the work continually moving forward …