holzschnitt

holzschnitt does not make use of any of the techniques of noisy alienation that has become a standard in advanced music for string instruments. Instead, I feel attracted by the idea to re-explore the „ordinary“, succinct string sound yet writing up-to-date, individually characteristic music. The monochromous sound of a string orchestra draws the attention towards substance and structures between asceticism and hidden opulence. The title refers to the material of the instruments as well as to a musical gesture in which clear cuts rather than transitions dominate, but also to the powerful and distinctive expression of a woodcut. Benjamin Schweitzer