Auf dem Wasser zu singen

Stolberg, Friedrich Leopold zu; Heine, Heinrich; Müller, Wilhelm; Platen, August von; Reinick, Robert; Goethe, Johann Wolfgang von (G)

“When Markus Fein presented his idea for a ‘Water’ cycle to me, I was immediately enthusiastic. Orchestrating songs on the theme of water and adding interludes – I (to stick with the elemental theme) was instantly captivated, even putting two other ieces on hold and immediately starting to select the texts and compose.
The texts are meant to tell a story, the blossoming and dying of a love, interspersed with doubt and despair. How differently one hears Schubert’s setting of ‘Meeres Stille’ after these events – especially when one has the (deathly) stillness of Schubert’s last song from ‘Die schöne Müllerin’ in mind. And that’s precisely what’s so special about putting together, orchestrating, and composing such a cycle today: you experience these pieces in relation to the familiar works of Schubert and Brahms, you discover new connections, even contrasts, breaks, nuances of sound, and intensifications of sound.
That’s exactly what the interludes, the material, also tell us.” Taking from the songs, developing them further, transitioning between them, mostly briefly, condensed, in a wide variety of instrumentations and constellations. Gradually, the arc of the cycle emerges: the (musical) noise penetrates ever more deeply, the romantic soundscape seems to recede ever further, is muted, fades away, exhales. The final solo piece for cello takes this to the point of silence – the first solo piece for viola opens the cycle with a powerful sound, yet already escapes into realms where tone becomes noise.
I left the vocal part completely untouched, and the piano accompaniment of the Schubert and Brahms songs was orchestrated very faithfully to the score (albeit using contemporary techniques). 'To Sing on the Water' remains singing. Always and always anew.”
(Jörn Arnecke, 2006)