Schweitzer, Benjamin: Marraskuu

(November)

The Finnish word ‘Marraskuu’ means ‘November’; furthermore, ‘marras’ means sth. like ‘dull, dead, waste’. Marraskuu is a homage to one of my favourite seasons, so the title should not mislead to primarily dark and gloomy associations. Completed in November 1998 in Helsinki, the piano trio was premiered by the Trio Présence (E. Windrich, G. Waterhouse, M. Wendeberg) in November 1999 and thoroughly revised in Paris in November 2004. The less clear expression and one-dimensional developments will be found, the more the listener’s attention will be sharpened to small details: melody fragments, some virtuoso textures, and Kondukt-like passages. Moreover, the composition involves a certain degree of freedom and sleaziness, which is, among others, the result of sections enabling the players to choose their entries in a certain time frame. That’s where the detailed precision of the notation offers some kind of counterweight, holding players off a too ‘educated’ performance.