As is often the case in his oeuvre, the composer starts from spiritual pictorial ideas: Whereas the first movement 'Landschaft in Erwartung' [Landscape in anticipation] presents an imaginary space between 'impersonal' counterpoint and longingly expressive parts, 'Maria und der Engel' [Mary and the Angel] appear in the second movement: The meditative contemplation of the young Mother of God is interrupted by the angel whose music is based on an Indian raga. Mary eventually accepts her vocation an...