Märchengestalten

“The competition ‘Jugend musiziert’ 1994 (Youth Making Music) provided the occasion for the composition of the ‘Märchengestalten’ (Fairytale Figures). The Youth Music School in Hameln, to which I owe my initial musical training and many formative experiences, asked me if I could contribute a contemporary work for a trio of pupils. Thus this cycle was written, beginning with the fairy and the idea of tracing this word with musical letters. The fairytale-like atmosphere is particularly created by the melody consisting of harmonics on the violoncello. This procedure applies symbolically to the entire cycle: writing a melodic, comprehensible kind of music for young interpreters which nonetheless contain acoustic attractiveness and wit. The plodding gestures of the gnome are part of this, as is a quotation that the witch locates in the world of fairytales. The three movements for the entire trio are complemented by two duets: the prince and the princess. Thus there arises an alteration of instrumental colours that also opens up various possibilities for performances, for each movement can be played on its own as well. When my family opera ‘Ronja Räubertochter’ was premiered at the Deutschen Oper am Rhein Düsseldorf-Duisburg in February 2015, it was clear how intensively children and youths could react to contemporary sounds. This resulted in my desire to offer them, with the ‘Märchengestalten’, a score for them to play themselves.” (Jörn Arnecke)