Nachtstück

Nachtstück for viola and small orchestra is part of a trilogy of works entitled Bildnisse für Orchester composed by Volker David Kirchner between 1980 and 1982. Each of the three Bildnisse [portraits] is devoted to great composers with a particular significance for Kirchner: Schubert, E.T.A. Hoffmann as poet and composer, Wagner and Debussy. In his homage to Wagner, Kirchner creates a number of variations on the suspended chord – in itself a variant of the famous Tristan chord – from the day and night sequence in Tristan und Isolde.