Wie ein gläsernes Meer, mit Feuer gemischt

Adriana Hölszky’s own comments concerning her music reveal her fascinating use of parameters such as “space” and “time”. She prefers to describe her works as individually structured “sound spaces”. There are “expanding and shrinking spaces”, and there are shifts from one sound area to another, which she compares to film editing with its sharp cuts or gentle fades. There are sudden “intrusions” of one sound area into another, and sometimes two or more sound areas are superimposed. Also, the concept of time does not exist for her as a single entity: Temporal processes appear in multiple strands in her music: cosmic time, terrestrial time, and an endless variety of experiential times that permeate one another and are superimposed.

The title of Hölszky’s “apocalyptic” work for organ “... und ich sah wie ein gläsernes Meer, mit Feuer gemischt” [And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire] describes extremely contrasting realities: "sea of glass" and "fire". They interact in clear-cut succession; sounds and expressive characters alternate constantly: “From one instant to the next, vivid pictures of light and color alternate with calm and mysterious moments that seem like narrow openings into other dimensions”, explains the composer.

Her work “Efeu und Lichtfeld” [Ivy and Field of Light] also contains a stark contrast within itself. “The worlds of the violin and organ appear to exist independently of one another. The violin figures move like pin pricks in a disconnected and restless fashion, primarily in the extreme upper register of the instrument. The organ sounds are like pulsating sources of light. The multiple meanings of the contrasting sounds arise finally as a consequence of the interaction between gradual transformations of color and discontinuous changes in pulse.” (Hölszky)

In the large four-movement composition “... und wieder Dunkel I” [… And Again Darkness 1] each movement is associated with a fragment from Gottfried Benn’s poem “Ein Wort” [A Word]: The wording of the second verse has been subdivided by Hölszky, and the fragments have each been placed in front of part of her composition.

 co-production with Deutschlandradio