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1. Grave – Allegro – Grave – Allegro - ...
Strata (Latin: stratum = layer, strata = layers) for two violins deals with two elements: two violins, two movements, two layers. In the first movement (Grave - Allegro ) different layers are primitively placed next to each other, in the second one the layers sound on top of each other. Strata was written in a serial style, combined with modal harmonies. In the compositional process I used several mathematical series to form the rhythm: Fibonacci series, Chaos series, Lucas series and my own series. These mathematical series sound like isolated elements, yet they all have an abstract (inaudible) relation. These elements only serve as a means to the sounding result: acoustically perceptible layers.
To realize this in auditory way, I opted in the second movement (Adagio ) for diversity in timbre: a baroque violin plays a chorale with a baroque bow (which suggests three part counterpoint), while a modern violin produces a completely different sound in a totally different, almost improvisatory layer. The baroque violin, equipped with gut strings and tuned traditionally (half a tone lower), is just like the modern violin prepared with a 'hotel room sordino'. As a consequence, the music turns into a mysterious atmosphere because of the nasal sound of the baroque violin, sharply contrasting with the capriccioso-like, improvisational surrounding of the modern violin.