Anna Veismane
Das Unheimliche / Das Heimliche
Duration: 16'
Solos:
organ
Das Unheimliche / Das Heimliche
Sample pages
Work introduction
A piece for the organ Das Unheimliche /Das Heimliche (2021) is created as a contrasting pair- uncanny, unpleasant, uncomfortable versus cozy and familiar. The idea of the composition has arisen from the essay Das Unheimliche (Uncanny), 1919 written by Sigmund Freud, and the psychoanalytical concepts the essay reveals.
As the essay depicts, the notions of what is familiar or what is awful may be insidious and superficial in our minds. Also the German etymology unveils that the nature of these notions is not so much antagonistic.
“What interests us most […] is to find that among its different shades of meaning the word heimlich exhibits one which is identical with its opposite, unheimlich. What is heimlich thus comes to be unheimlich. [...] In general we are reminded that the word heimlich is not unambiguous, but belongs to two sets of ideas, which, without being contradictory, are yet very different: on the one hand it means what is familiar and agreeable, and on the other, what is concealed and kept out of sight.” (Sigmund Freud “Das Unheimliche”).
Awful and familiar can be applied to the world around us that sometimes makes us feel insecure, frightened, but sometimes stable and calm.
Musically, each part of the composition is different in terms of character, mood and means of musical expression. The first part is dramatic, dynamic and even aggresive whereas the second one is leveling and emotionally softer. However, there are elements of music whose emotional associations may be different – major triads that transform into dissonant chords and clusters or quarter-tones that may sound both sharp and gentle. While working on the composition, I tried to imagine how the music is colored by unusual registers of the organ of St.Martin church in Kassel.
What is necessary to perform this work?
Originally written for the organ of St.Martin church in Kassel, Germany, this is revised version for non-microtonal organ