Description

Songs of Innocence & Experience

für Streichquartett mit Tonband (1996/2004)

 

 

 

Songs of Innocence and Experience  is a composition of 20 ritornels following William Blakes first cycle of poems “Songs of Innocence”. The spirit of each poem is condensed and projected onto children songs which I recorded on streets of Nürnberg about 20 years ago. I transcribed these songs with all the intonation mistakes and the repeating of phrases due to recalling and forgetting of the songline. I remembered having driven through the US, years back, taking a hitchhiker into the car who had Ginsbergs songs of Blakes “Tiger” and others on a cassette with him. The rough energy of Ginsbergs singing lingered on. Then I heard from David Harringtons son who died on a sunday walk with his father all of a sudden on Mount Diabolo south of San Francisco. The last two ritornels are written in memory to this loss. The most fragile in this rough world is the soul of a child. To keep it in oneself as a measure for alienation is important the older one gets.