Umbra - Antumbra - Penumbra

Umbra – Antumbra – Penumbra is a study on 'acoustic shadows' cast by walls, beams and oversized staircases – inspired by Giovanni Battista Piranesi’s Carceri d’invenzione. Pre-echoes and reverberations occur between the soloist and the orchestra and within the individual orchestral groups. Loud events push softer sounds into the background before liberating them once more. From time to time, figurations in the solo part are scattered within the orchestral texture, and fragile lines briefly flower and wither away. The initial rhapsodic propulsion becomes transformed into aimless drifting, weighty blocks, and dull murmuring. The concerto and symphonic character of the dialogue is transformed into a lonely monologue against a fragmented backdrop. 
Benjamin Schweitzer