Günther Zechberger
Querstand
Duration: 14'
Solos:
harp
Querstand
Sample pages
Work introduction
Horizontal movement sequences are shifted to the vertical (transverse). Bottleneck and knitting needles are used to create pitch systems that defy our mathematical calculations. Two knitting needles are used to divide the instrument into four fields - if you name these fields with the letters A, B, C and H, you are following in the footsteps of a musical formula that has already become a ritual.
The strings are plucked, scratched, struck and stroked with the intention of perceiving the instrument in its robustness, delicacy and vulnerability. This gives us an insight into a sound palette that ranges from the melodious to the vulnerable to the wounded and destroyed.
34 strings – 34 leavers: as if in a parallel world, the small harp travels through 33 different tunings at the same time, moving away from the starting tuning of E flat major and gradually approaching the final tuning of E major (cross realtion). However, the piece remains unimpressed by these winding paths of the keys.
What is necessary to perform this work?
1 (guitar) bottleneck; 2 guitar picks; 2 knitting needles long enough to be threaded through approx. 11 to 12 strings