Hefti-Moonshadow (Mondschatten) (SP)-M/VN

Mondschatten (Moon Shadow) was written in 2006 to a commission from the Cunz/Ott Duo, and is dedicated to the violinist Rahel Cunz and the percussionist Jacqueline Ott Yesilalp.After its opening knocking signals, the marimba follows different fragments of a developing line, from whose shadow the violin then frees itself. The composition begins three times before the music is able to advance in an expressive counterpoint. A frenetic dance forms the starting-point of a continuous build-up of virtuosity, dynamics and aggression. Cries of despair. Reconciliation. Reminiscence. Elegy - lamentation. Contemplation.Mondschatten was inspired by the poem 'Abendland' by Georg Trakl (1887-1914):

Number of Players: 2
Level of Difficulty: Grade 5
Instrumentation:

Player I: Violin

Player II: Marimba

David Philip Hefti, prize-winner of the prestigious Witold Lutoslawski Competition and of the George Enescu Competition, is a versatile musician who has already appeared on the great international stages. His considerable oeuvre ranges from chamber music and compositions for ensemble to works for orchestra. Critics have described his music as follows: 'a synthesis of horizontal and vertical structures, an entity in which contrary emotional worlds collide off each other' (Neue Zürcher Zeitung); 'a work with convincing gestures, and with clear, strong musical ideas and emotions' (NZZ); 'the first movement is situated in a field of tension between noise and melodiousness, between a rhythmic sense on the one hand pulsating, and on the other free and between light and shadow' (NZZ); and, finally: 'these subtle experiments make you prick up your ears' (Der Spiegel). His compositions have been published by Edition Kunzelmann and are distributed by Edition C. F. Peters as well.