Bauckholt: Treibstoff

Description

Treibstoff by Carola Bauckholt is an 11-minute work for ensemble (Flute (doubling Bass Flute), Clarinet in Bb, Percussion, Piano, Violin, Viola, Cello and Double Bass). As hearing immediately confirms, it is an expressive title: it literally means 'fuel' or 'propellant'. The listener enters the piece as if a door were suddenly pushed open and he or she were stood in the midst of a teeming mass of sound creatures, which, because they have legs of different lengths, strive forward faster or slower. There is a hectic hustle and bustle. Each of the instruments has a different gain and the simultaneity of all these 'sounds in motion' results in an impenetrably dense rhythmic field of repetitive figures.

Treibstoff was premiered on 6 October 1995 at the Kulturrathaus Dresden by the Thürmchen Ensemble under the direction of Roland Kluttig.