Rebecca Saunders: Void

»Void« – how does this term relate to music? Rebecca Saunders, who chose this title for a work for percussion duo and orchestra, explains the title: »Beneath the surface of silence there lies a cacophony of sound and noise, an endless potential that becomes audible. The act of composing unveals, makes visible: pulling gently on the fragile thread of sound, drawing out fragments of colour from the depths, seizing the moment and allowing sound to erupt from the stasis of imagined silence.«

Tom Belkind explores further nuances of »void«. He imagines unwanted pores within the material, i.e. sounds and textures which are imperfect, which is the very reason they fascinate him. Then there is the concept of ether, which was relied upon in former times to explain the movement of light or gravity. And finally the emotional meaning of absence. All these aspects have inspired the 2021 Bernd Alois Zimmermann Fellow of the City of Cologne to write his new piece.