LES SIGNES DE MA FAIBLESSE
2006
for piano solo
dedicated to Martha Agostini
duration: ca. 13 minutes
What is the role of weakness in music? When are artists ill-constituted? Les signes de ma faiblesse (The signs of my weakness) is composed after a passage from Nietzsche, whose iconic left-facing portrait seems itself a backwards glance: "Was ist gut? — Alles, was das Gefühl der Macht, den Willen zur Macht, die Macht selbst im Menschen erhöht. Was ist schlecht? — Alles, was aus der Schwäche stammt...Was ist schädlicher als irgend ein Laster? — Das Mitleiden der That mit allen Mißrathnen und Schwachen..." [What is good? All that heightens the feeling of power in man, the will to power, power itself. What is bad? All that is born of weakness ...What is more harmful than any vice? Active sympathy for the ill-constituted and weak...]. This work progresses without overt repetitions; instead, several musical characters — motives, figures, rhythms — are nearby at all times, creating the texture by their simple presence and relationship to one another, rather like characters in a film.