Perché

Part 1
I. Why? (solo voices, choir, orchestra)
II. St. Martin of Karst (solo tenor, orchestra)
III. Loneliness (choir, orchestra)
IV I am a creature (solo soprano, orchestra)
V. Brothers (choir, orchestra)
Part 2
VI. Peace (choir, orchestra)
VII. Enjoyment (solo tenor, orchestra)
VIII. Equal (solo voices, orchestra, choir)
IX. Cheerful (solo soprano, orchestra)
X. Please (choir, orchestra)

Notes on the work:
Perchè was composed during a scholarship in Rome at the Villa Massimo in 1968, commissioned by the Städt. Musikverein Düsseldorf (Düsseldorf Municipal Music Society) to mark its 150th anniversary; It was premiered by the Musikverein and the Düsseldorf Symphony Orchestra in the fall of 1968 under the direction of choir director H. Schmidt. The composition was inspired by a series of poems by the great Italian poet G. Ungaretti (1888-1970). Ungaretti is considered the forefather of modern Italian poetry, a voce vivente, a living voice. In Ungaretti’s short, expressive, aphoristic verses, man speaks of his predicament, of his helplessness in the face of fear and terror, which constantly beset us both externally and internally. Why (Perchè), asks the poet, does all this happen to me and before me? The poems selected by the composer (from various cycles by Ungaretti) have been compiled into two large sections, each with five movements, in which the 4-8-part choir, the two soloists alternately come to the fore individually, or the choir and soloists combine. The orchestra part is largely independent and expresses the mood and essence of the poems, sometimes with dark or bright or light timbres or with austere linearity. The two major sections of the composition stand in stark contrast to each other; the first is dominated (both textually and musically) by darkness, despair, and hopelessness, while the second spreads comfort, brightness, and hope. While the first cycle has only one setting, that of horror, the second encompasses an almost programmatic sequence of lighter images.
Modern compositional techniques are used extensively in the individual sections; dodecaphonically fragmented passages are juxtaposed with clusters and strictly linear structures. Ultimately, the music is intended to deepen the message of the poet Ungaretti, restrained, detached, full of emotion – “More feeling than painting.”
(Jürg Baur)