CHRISTOPHZIMPER
DASQUARTETTZURWENDEDERZEIT
The title as well as the unusual cast immediately reminds one of Olivier Messiaen’s masterpiece „Quatuor pour la fin du temps“ – the „Quartet For The End Of Time“ – which I performed with the wonderful Eggner Trio whilst working on my own composition and which to this day has a profound impact on me personally.
Composition
Instrumentation - Violin, Cello, Piano, Clarinet, Voice
Year - 2019
Recording - Album "The Millennials Mass (Col Legno, 2021)
ABOUT
In my case, the title „Wende der Zeit“ refers to my birth as an artist - the moment in which I decided to quit my job in a big orchestra. A decision which initially threw me off track. During that time I discovered a music scene in Vienna far away from the familiar big subsidized stages, where an utterly different and refreshing understanding of art was lived, contrary to the one I had known thus far.
In the 1st movement – „Collage neopubertärer Bauchgefühle“ – I process all the new impressions I collected during this special phase of my life, in which I gained new experiences on the small stages of Vienna.
The 2nd movement – „Aus dem Kokon“ – resulted from the restricted, uncertain and simultaneously curious feeling a butterfly might have before bursting from its cocoon. The question „What is my purpose as an artist?“ has preoccupied me ever since.
The 3rd movement – „Lied der Stummen“ – paints the picture of a musician (including me) who has put all his energy into his know-how since he was a child, never asking „why?“….
„Das Quartett zur Wende der Zeit“ premiered at the Wiener Staatsoper on May 10th, 2019 as part of the Vienna Philharmonic’s chamber music cycle.