Claus Kühnl
*1957
Dark Question (2003) for four double basses
in memoriam Bertold Hummel
World premiere: 14 March 2004, Würzburg, University of Music
Michinori Bunya | Katrin Triquart | Choul Won Pyun | Ryutaro Hei
Duration: 7 minutes
Publisher: Musikverlag Hofmeister FH 3226
A kind of passacaglia based on a twelve-tone sequence: pasar una calle: in this case, the depiction of a procession which, after a short while, is interrupted by a cry and comes to a halt. This alternation between relatively steady progress and episodes characterised by certain rhetorical figures akin to the thinking of the composer Bertold Hummel determines the overall form.
Claus Kühnl
"Offene Weite..." (1996/99) for double bass and piano (grand piano)
World premiere: 20 October 1997, Würzburg
Michinori Bunya / Catherine Vickers
Duration: 26 minutes
Publisher: edition gravis EG 570 (elaborately calligraphic performance score)
An emperor meets the primordial patriarch Bodhidharma.
With the pomposity and cluelessness of the layman and man of the world
he asks him:
“What is the highest meaning of the sacred truth?”
The Patriarch replies:
"Open expanse – nothing sacred."
Josef Knecht to Carlo Ferromonte (Hermann Hesse / 1960)
The composition consists of a single movement divided into six sections, which are in turn subdivided into further sections:
I. Introduction 1 (slow)
II. Introduction 2 (fast – slow)
III. 10 Variations (changing tempos)
IV. Cantabile (slow)
V. Ritmico (fast)
VI. Coda (slow)
From Introduction 2 onwards, the pitch relationships are regulated by a sequence of 40 notes, with a note assigned to each letter of the phrase OFFENE WEITE – NICHTS VON HEILIG and the reversal of the words NICHTS HEILIG (the letter G was treated as CH). The resulting sequence of notes contains all 12 chromatic tones with corresponding repetitions, beginning and ending with the note D, which was frequently used as a horizontal central tone throughout the composition. In addition, the note F sharp was frequently set as the vertical central tone, containing the note D as the 13th partial (tempered) within the chord. Alongside these ‘tonal’ fields, there are also ‘atonal’ sequences, effectively twelve-tone concentrates of the original tone sequence, in which every existing tone was skipped. (From Introduction 1).
To regulate the note durations, I frequently made use of the principles of isoperiodicity and isorhythm. In the coda, the notes are firmly interlinked across three levels through the use of the Fibonacci sequence in relation to their durations:
Piano / right hand: 2 3 5 8 13 21 13 8 5 3 2 1
Piano / left hand: 8 13 21 13 8 5 3 2 1 2 3 5
Double bass: 13 8 5 3 2 1 2 3 5 8 13 21
(7 sustained notes arranged in two groups of six, expanding and contracting.)
The focal point of the composition is the 10 variations, which are structured as a series of self-contained sections of varying lengths. As in a mutation, unexpected new sonic events occur in each variation, providing the material for the following or subsequent variation.
‘Merci, mes chers amis…’ (2021) for piano World premiere
I. “Timbre” in memoriam Bertold Hummel
II. “Silence perverti” in memoriam Hans Ulrich Engelmann
III. “Toujours” in memoriam Henri Dutilleux
World premiere: 29 April 2022, Frankfurt am Main, Clara Schumann Hall
Claus Kühnl
Looking from the depths of the countryside towards Würzburg, Bertold Hummel was, for me as a fourteen-year-old at the time, the first composer I could ‘reach out and touch’. And that is what he has remained to me: a friend who listened, and whom I wanted to listen to.
Claus Kühnl (University News 2001–2002, University of Music, Würzburg)
Claus Kühnl is one of the so-called ‘non-conformists’ of his generation. His works are characterised by accessibility, clear melodic gestures, original harmonies and consistent formal structure.
Although influenced by the works of the French masters O. Messiaen and H. Dutilleux, he has developed his own distinctive formal and sonic language. In his works for piano, which form one of the focal points of his output to date, a highly imaginative treatment of the instrument is evident. The extremely subtle use of various sound-producing techniques (including inside the grand piano) creates the image of a harmonious aesthetic cosmos, which also finds its compelling expression in the composition ‘im horizont hätten fahnen zu stehen’.
This cycle for prepared piano, dating from 1987, consists of seven movements and three interludes (parentheses) – quasi-transitions serving as both a follow-up and a preparation. The composition was inspired by a poem by the Stuttgart painter Armin Martinmüller. An excerpt reads:
“first healed
by your hand
a sense of majesty
on the horizon
flags should stand
at the ritual procession
to the centre of the world"
Even without a title, the work captivates with its versatility; a real treat for discerning listeners and a significant contribution to contemporary piano music.
Bertold Hummel
(in the CD booklet: DAS KONZERT – Andreas Weimer, piano, Cavalli Records, Edition Villa Concordia, Bamberg 2002)
See also: Claus Kühnl: Classical Order Expanded – Bertold Hummel – Composer in the Twentieth Century
