Work of the Week – Anno Schreier: Geistervariationen

A musical Rübezahl: The new orchestral work Geistervariationen by Anno Schreier will be premiered with the Neue Lausitzer Philharmonie in Zittau on 1 July 2023. Ewa Strusinska will be the conductor.

The concert series "Neue Lausitzer Landpartie", to which this piece also belongs, is dedicated to the musical exploration of Upper Lusatia. Geistervariationen deals with the mountain spirit Rübezahl. Schreier wants to capture the essence of Rübezahl, making his music a kind of Rübezahl itself.

Collection of snapshots: Geistervariationen by Anno Schreier

The 10-minute piece consists of a series of very short variations. Many of these sequences are shorter than 20 seconds. This makes the work very varied and leads the listener through different musical impressions. 

In this way, I have become a kind of Rübezahl musically, because the music behaves extremely capriciously and transforms itself incessantly. As is often the case in my work, various ghosts from the past and present haunt the piece. (Anno Schreier)

The work was composed especially for the concert series "Neue Lausitzer Landpartie" of the Neue Lausitzer Philharmonie. It was commissioned by the Gerhard Hauptmann Theatre in Görlitz-Zittau.

Links:

Anno Schreier: Composer Profile

Geistervariationen: Work Details and Online Score

Website Neue Lausitzer Philharmonie

Foto: Felix Grünschloß