At the beginning of firelife there is a sneak network of silent or near silent movements by the instruments: key noises, wiping movements or col legion techniques create, as it were, hollow moulds of sounds. As the piece progresses these are filled with resonances, eventually culminating in the central passage of the piece with a broad clarinet line, marked 'bell-like' and accompanied by large string chords. Following this process of increasing acoustic presence there appears a second, contrary one, whereby the material reduces and becomes more homogeneous. Finally, the diverse movements from the beginning reappear transformed into a series of static homophonous chords. In this manner, the way in which the music comes to sounds corresponds to the decomposition of its forms.

Markus Böggemann