Mauricio Kagel

Impromptu II

Mauricio Kagel's Impromptu II for piano dates from 1998 and was composed in Tanglewood. It continues a dialogue with the Austro-German musical literature that often provided impetus for Kagel's music. This is a newly-engraved edition, replacing the previously-available composer facsimile edition. "The title is reminiscent of Schubert, the score, of Schumann. Kagel had already paid his respects to both these composers before, Schubert with the song opera Aus Deutschland, Schumann with the setting of his diaries in Mitternachtsstück. In Impromptu II, Kagel builds on the character of these predecessors; in a different musical language, but definitely in their spirit. Kagel said that when composing he always had "concrete sensations of emotional states in the back of his mind", but every listener has to discover these for themselves. What Kagel likes about the Romantics is that the theme of a piece remains unspoken. "Is it autumn or lack of money?" Sometimes both. "Werner Klüppelholz