Kaleidoskop

A completely different (new?) Baur: no connection to a cantus firmus, no Baroque form, but instead four movements arranged loosely in a suite-like manner. Even the titles hint at something new; the overall title: Kaleidoscope; the individual parts: Sisyphus, Reflection, Artists, Marionettes; playfully free-form pieces, cheerful, contemplative, humorous.
1st movement: Two thematic movements characterize the course of Sisyphus: a monophonic rolling figure interrupted by pauses alternates constantly with a stereotypical five-note ostinato, a motif that recurs in multiple variations and finally falls into the depths in a garland-like manner, symbolic of the futile efforts of the ancient Greek mythological figure.
The second piece, Spiegelungen (Reflections), is introduced and concluded by a melancholic thought, which leads into a group of static, strictly imitated, interlocking mirror sounds. A moving figure leads to a 5/8 period in which the upper voice circles around five notes; at the end, the mirror sound episode returns, fading away on a single note: the whole is a calm, almost aleatoric intermezzo.
3rd movement: A virtuoso study with circling Rastelli tone groups, dodecaphonically arranged quintuplets, accompanied by rhythmically counter-moving sound impulses, repeatedly interrupted by recitative pedal bass solos. Towards the end, a powerful accumulation of all thematic elements forms an artistic toccata, culminating in dissonant towers of sound.
The finale: Marionettes, a five-part bridge form ABCBA. The movement is composed of three thematic sections; the first: a downward-moving twelve-tone melody, culminating in a sound field that expands into a multi-layered chord;