Orchestra: Fl., Ob., Clar., Tenor Sax., Bugle – Tr., Horn, Tuba – Percussion (1–2 players), Piano – Strings 3.0.0.3.3 or 9.0.0.6.6 – The three sections of the orchestra are spatially separated and are deliberately not precisely coordinated;

Premiere: 15 November 2002, Deutschlandsberg (Austria), Youth Music Festival, Lassnitz-Haus, Steirischer Herbst, “ground zero”
Youth Music Festival Orchestra | Stephan Amschl
Duration: 8 minutes
Publisher: Hans Sikorski
www.moritzeggert.de

“As the teacher of my teacher (Claus Kühnl), Bertold Hummel was for me what we composers call a ‘grandfather-teacher’; as a result, I felt a connection to him and his music from a very early age. From the very beginning, he treated me as if I were his own pupil, which always gave me particular pleasure. One of the qualities that distinguished Bertold was the great and sincere interest he showed in young composers: in numerous committees and associations, he always championed the younger generation – a task that many less committed individuals find tedious and inconvenient, but which he undertook with all his heart and great warmth. I myself owe him an immense debt of gratitude and still regard him today as a great role model for my own work.
The piece ‘epitaph’ was commissioned for the Deutschlandsberg Youth Music Festival; whilst I was working on my first sketches, I received the news of Bertold’s death, so that it increasingly became a personal piece of mourning music, which I sought to express through the dedication. The piece is written for three small orchestral groups playing at independent tempos and can also be performed by amateur or young musicians.”

Moritz Eggert