Dominik Susteck - Adriana Hölszky: Wie ein gläsernes Meer, mit Feuer gemischt (2015)

The title of Hölszkys '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 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.