©2008 by Peter Swinnen

This piece, commissioned by the Spectra Ensemble for their participation in the Gouden Vleugels Contest 2008 in tandem with the Fenix String Quartet, is a tribute to Ludwig van Beethoven and Luciano Berio. It takes the fifth movement of Beethoven’s string quartet nº 15 op. 132 and treats it as in Luciano Berio’s Sinfonia. In other words: Beethoven (the past) tries to ‘break through’ Berio (the present). It is as if you ‘remember’ something without knowing precisely what it is: “Erinnerung”. At the same time throughout the piece this idea of the past transforms itself up to the point that it can be integrated into the present: “Er-Inner-Ung”. Very much the same way as the combination of a string quartet and ensemble reminds the idea of an 18th century Sinfonia Concertante (past), which the use of electronic transformations re-actualizes into the present. Happy Listening!

Peter Swinnen