Instants Captifs

For her concerts marking the anniversary of '50 Years of diplomatic relations between Germany and Israel' the pianist Heidrun Holtmann asked several authors to write compositions. Being under the impression of the tensions currently existing in Israel, Martin Christoph Redel gave his piece the title 'Gefangene Augenblicke' [Captured Moments] and uses the subtitle 'Spiegelfantasie für Klavier' [Mirror Fantasia for Piano] to refer to the special form of the work which moves backwards from the middle of the piece. Despite its static, closed form, the piece has its hopeful moments in the form of 'out-composed' bird-calls. 'For the bird', says Redel, 'is the mediator between heaven and earth'.