Question: You composed your work for percussion op. 99a to eight watercolours by Andreas Felger. I know that Mr Felger often paints to music. There is an exchange between artists here. How did you get to know Andreas Felger?

Hummel: The percussionist Stefan Eblenkamp asked me if I would like to write music to paintings by Mr Felger. During a visit to Felger's studio, I worked with the painter to select the objects that I thought were suitable for a musical interpretation.

Question: Have you already composed music to paintings by other artists?

Hummel: Yes, there is a symphonic poem for large orchestra "Die Stille vor dem Sturm" (The Silence before the Storm) based on a painting by Hans Thoma.

Question: Would you like to say something about the process that takes place in you when you compose to a painting? (Anyone who looks closely at a Felger painting and listens to your music can sense something of your feelings, I think).

Hummel: I looked at Felger's pictures in the original for a long time and had them in front of my eyes in reproductions when I was composing. The realisation of my feelings then takes place in purely musical categories and is very subjective. If the listener can empathise with this - all the better.

"Schwarzwälder Bote", 14 March 1997

Preface to the sheet music edition (Musikverlag Zimmermann, Frankfurt)

The artistic connections between music and painting are manifold. Many artists, especially at the end of the century, have sought mutual co-operation or have been inspired by corresponding guidelines.

I had my first musical encounter with the connection between the two arts as a child. Back then, I played a piece by the American percussionist Al Payson entitled "The twittering machine " after the painting of the same name by Paul Klee. Since then, the fascinating combination of the two arts has repeatedly inspired me as an interpreter. In my view, the enormous possibilities of musical colour predestine percussion instruments for this task.

I have followed Andreas Felger's artistic work with great enthusiasm for many years. So I was very pleased to be able to help him with his wish to set some of his works to music.

In Bertold Hummel, we were able to find a composer for this project who has masterfully translated the content, formal and colour relationships of the chosen pictures into eight concise musical statements.

I am delighted to have been involved in the creation, première and the first concerts with the "Klangbilder". For further performances, I recommend the projection of the accompanying images by slide, as the full artistic power of the "Klangbilder" is only conveyed in the direct, simultaneous connection of both levels.

Stefan Eblenkamp, April 1998

Bertold Hummel composed the 8 movements inspired by the pictures by Andreas Felger and at the suggestion of percussionist Stefan Eblenkamp. The individual pictures and their corresponding musical movements bear the titles: Ezekiel 37, Passion I-III, Triangle, Circle, Square and Ludi. The 4-colour reproductions replace corresponding commentaries on the pieces and lend an additional dimension to the overall impression. We recommend a performance with simultaneous projection of the pictures as slides, which can be obtained directly from the artist