Vor Indien im Meer
Multiple Material Origins in the Music of Stefan Wirth
Theo Hirsbrunner
It is as a doubly talented composer and pianist that Hirsbrunner presents Stefan Wirth, in this attempt to describe in an analytic way the essential elements of Wirth’s musical production. Among other topics, the discussion will cover Wirth’s attempt to escape the «stifling dialectic between progress and tradition» through the imagination of a fictive tradition – an attempt that left its mark on the two ensemble works Yhôll and Gennff; the differenciated manipulation of pianistic possibilities in the 5 Etüden; and, finally, Wirth’s obstination in testing the adaptability and re-usabillity of musical materials from various historical and geographical origins.
