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Studied composition (with Andrzej Koszewski) and music
theory at the Academy of Music in PoznaY. She continued her studies at the
Mu-
sic Academy in Basle (composition with R. Keltenborn and electronic music
with T. Kessler), as well as at the University of Freiburg im Breisgau (musicology).
She also participated in composers1 workshops in Kazimierz Dolny (Poland),
conducted by Lutos1awski, Nono, Pousseur and Xenakis.
She has lectured at the University of Lucerne since 1995. She is also
active as a member of the board of the Boswil Foundation and a journalist.
She has contributed to the development of Polish-Swiss cultural exchanges.
In 1999 she received a doctorate from the Academy of Music in Kraków.
Her commissions have included those from the Venice Biennale, the OWarsaw
Autumn1, Radio drs, the OPro Helvetia1 Foundation, the Gesellschaft fur
Kammermusik in Basle, the Basler Sinfonietta,
the Basler Madrigalisten, OTage fur neue Musik1 and the
Migros-Genossenschaftsbund in Zurich. Her works have won awards at the
Zagreb Competition (1988, Verba), the Tadeusz Baird Competition in Warsaw
(1990, Trio for Percussion), the International Composers1 Rostrum in Paris
(1992, String Quartet No. 2), and the Mannheim Competition for Female
Composers (1994, Variabile). Her honours also include the Cultural Award
of the City of Basle (1996) and the Recognition Prize of the Canton and
City of Lucerne (2001).
Selected works: Verba for orchestra (1987), What is
black, what is white? for percussion duo (1987), abc for tape (1987), Trio
for Percussion (1989), Variabile for orchestra (1991), Landscape of a
moment, five songs for mezzo-soprano, viola, and piano (1991), Second
String Quartet (1991), Caleidoscopio for string orchestra (1992), Notturno
for flute solo (199293), Third String Quartet (1993), Acuso for chorus,
clarinet and cello (1994), Decision for wind octet and bass (1994), sn
1993 j for orchestra (1996), Concerto for Oboe and Orchestra (1996),
Concerto for Piano and Orchestra (1998), Toccata sospesa for flute and two
percussionists (1999), Miroirs for mezzo-soprano and instrumental group
(2000), Arcato for viola solo (2000), Cercar for prepared guitar solo
(2001), Scene for violin and cello (2001), Vier Figuren for ensemble (18
musicians) in three groups (2001), Daphnes Lied for piano (2002),
Amoureske for viola d1amore (2003), Phototaxis for string orchestra
(2003), Weissagung eine komponierte Improvisation für das Oquartet
noir1 for piano, double-bass, saxophone and percussion (2003).
Miroirs
Talking about her piece, Bettina Skrzypczak tells a story from ancient
China that she found in Jorge Luis Borges. Chuang Chou dreamed that he was
a butterfly, and when he woke, he wondered: am I a man who dreamed he was
a butterfly, or am I a butterfly dreaming that he is a man? In a similar
fashion, in Miroirs reality and an imaginary world intermingle. Sound and
speech mirror a hidden reality, which in exceptional circumstances, as in
dreams or perhaps in attentive listening? can be experienced for
just a moment.
The texts shed light on this theme from various perspectives. OEl bacedor1
(Borges) is located at the transition from history to myth, the fragments
from Li Taibo evoke an ecstatic moment of transcendence, and in the lyric
quatrains of the Provençal troubadour Ventadorn, another person1s eyes
are a mirror of the self; in the Persian poem by Sarmast an interesting
case of a male poem with a female perspective - self-reflection leads to questions about
infinity. The musical attitudes of this little vocal cycle range from
lyrical introspection to dramatic outbursts; the eight instruments unfold
a rich spectrum of timbres and atmospheric states. The expressive vocal
line is closely interwoven with the instrumental writing, yet it leaves
the music plenty of scope to express what remains unsaid.
Max Nyffeler
El bacedor (fragments)
Somos el rio que invocaste, Heráclito.
Somos el tiempo. Su intangible curso
Acarrea leones y montanas,
Llorado amor, ceniza del deleite,
Vastos nombres de imperios que son polvo.
Hexámetros del griego
Las armas y el guerrero.
Un incesante espejo que se mira
En otro espejo.
Auroras y ponientes y crepúsculos,
Ecos, resaca, arena, liquen, suenos.
Jorge Luis Borges
Miralhs, pus me mirei en te,
m1an mort li sospir de preon
c1 aissi 1m perdei com perdet se
lo bels Narcisus en la fon.
Bernart de Ventadorn
Vor uns ein Becher Wein (fragments)
Am blauen Gaden der Pfirsichbaum,
weißt du, wie lange er blüht?
Ein zitterndes Leuchten ist es, ein Traum,
er täuscht uns nur und entflieht.
Komm, auf zum Tanz!
Die Sonne verglüht
Li Taibo
(Translated into German by Günther Debon)
Ich bin etwas, o Schwestern,
und weiß nicht, was ich bin!
Ich meine: vielleicht eine Puppe,
vielleicht, dran sie hängt, jener Faden,
Ein Ball in der Hand des Geliebten.
Vielleicht ein Joch, schwer beladen.
Vielleicht bin ein Palast ich,
darin der König sinnt,
Gar manche Dinge beredend,
daß Kenntnis er gewinnt.
Vielleicht bin ich ein Roß auch,
das irgendein Reiter lenkt,
Vielleicht die Woge des Meeres,
das äußeres Sein versenkt.
Vielleicht die Henna-Blüte,
mit Röte ausgelegt,
Vielleicht auch eine Rose,
die Duft im Haupte trägt.
Auch mag ich eine Quelle,
gefüllt von der Wolke, sein,
In der die Sonne sich spiegelt
und Mondes Widerschein.
Vielleicht auch der Widerschein Gottes
bin ich von Anbeginn,
Der jenseits aller Worte...
Vielleicht, daß ich gar nicht bin!
Satschal Sarmast
( Translated into German by Annemarie Schimmel)
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