iris ter schiphorst

Composition commissioned by the Cottbus State Theatre

WP: 03.06.2016, State Theatre, Large House, Cottbus

Arno Lücker in the programme booklet for the premiere in Cottbus

"Love" is sung about in all possible facets in ter Schiphorst's new work - extremely lyrical, tender, then throwing itself into and over with itself, exuberant, but finally submerged again, internalised ...

However, the composer's inspiration for this work did not necessarily come solely from the musical illumination of the theme of earthly love. After all, the soprano aria "Aus Liebe will mein Heiland sterben" from Bach's St Matthew Passion sings of Jesus Christ's love for mankind, in other words, quasi divine love.

For love my Saviour will die
He knows nothing of sin.
That eternal destruction
And the punishment of judgement
May not remain on my soul.

The first note of the solo violin emerges from the silence, "like a flute from afar". It continues freely rhapsodically into new sound contexts, almost always with the solo instrument as the "narrating evangelist" or better: as a singing, lamenting Mary Magdalene, kneeling at the feet of the crucified Jesus Christ, weeping ...

After a few minutes, a section called "The weeping of M. M." by Iris ter Schiphorst is heard for the first time. The soloist creates these parts almost completely independently in terms of shaping, tonal shading and expression. The rhythm and the framework of dynamic expression are undogmatically defined.

In the last third of the extremely multi-faceted and sonorous work, the violin makes what could be described as "Morse code" signals. Fast, interrupted tone repetition groups, under which the composer has notated the beginning of the above text from the St Matthew Passion. However, the words are not intended to be spoken; they form the "subtext" of such "speaking" passages, so to speak, and give the performers orientation and the possibility of intensifying and realising expression.

Arno Lücker