Rilke Settings will be performed at Resonance against Routes.
Rilke Settings
“Neue Stetigkeit” (new continuity): the title of the first movement alludes to the continuous drive that the motor-rhythmic Alberti Bass contributed in a classical-era sonata. The musical aesthetic is characterised by the prominence of recurring gestural spasms, made increasingly insignificant by its ubiquity, put in a rigid framework of (modified) sonata form to eliminate any prospect of ‘organic grand expression’. Hence, the first movement is a conjecture of the sonata under the “Third Viennese School”, seeking a reinvigoration of classical elegance in a new context. The second movement, “Neue Empfindsamkeit” (new sentimentality) refers to the intent of the 18th-century Empfindsamer Stil to express “true and natural” feelings. The movement is marked by meticulous restraint, all deliberate in limiting overly obvious expressive outpour. Hence, the movement aims to convey this withering dynamic.All in all, Rilke Settings is a work seeking to reconnect with past traditions, commenting on their inevitable influence and continuity into new musical contexts.