Schattenspie(ge)l for Trio

Schattenspie(ge)l ('Shadow play/shadow mirror'), a trio for violin, cello and piano, was composed in 2006 to a commission from the 'Trio Caleidoscopio'. It is dedicated to Rudolf Kelterborn on his 75th birthday, and also to Primoz Novsak, Thomas Grossenbacher and Keiko Tamura, who gave the world première on 19 November 2006 at a Chamber Music Subscription Concert in the Zurich Tonhalle.

Schattenspie(ge)l alludes to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Piano Trio in G Major, KV 564, as well as to the Second Piano Trio in E Minor by Dmitri Shostakovich. These two works are not quoted in a manner that the ear can hear, however; they are merely present, structurally, in the background. The four contrasting movements are derived from the same basic cell, possess the same formal structure, and they together form a unity on account of the many cross-references between them.