Der Nachtstern (2023)

Der Nachtstern took shape in the quiet aftermath of an exhibition of Georgia O’Keeffe’s works – particularly her 1917 watercolor Evening Star No. VI . Its vivid contrasts and the solitary star set against a pale sky left a lasting impression, not as something to illustrate, but as a mood – still, distant, and quietly luminous. That atmosphere became a point of departure for this piece, written in memory of my friend A.S., with whom I had spent many afternoons in cafés, talking about philosophy, music, and the novel he was writing. In the weeks after his death, composing offered a way to mark his absence – not through a grand gesture, but through something modest and inward-facing.

Drawn to the quiet resonance and symbolic clarity of Rainer Maria Rilke’s poetry, I found in his language a way to approach what I could not fully articulate. The selected texts reflect a movement through presence and loss, memory and distance. They speak of a world once held in the face of a beloved, now dispersed and out of reach; of beings no longer in step with the winds; and of a star that descends not in defeat, but in accordance with its own path. These images thread through the music, which unfolds in slow waves, allowing individual voices to emerge and recede within the ensemble.

The final section does not suggest extinction, but a form of transformation. The star does not vanish, but follows its course – voll der Liebesmacht , filled with the power of love – kindled from within and sinking where the sun once sank. It is a farewell that does not erase, but alters. In this light, Der Nachtstern becomes a quiet offering: of mourning, of release, and of stillness shaped by memory.