leuchtertrautfernemdnahes takes an excerpt from Hermann Broch's Tod des Vergil as its basis. A live singer performs with a playback consisting of additional vocal tracks, most of which are presented without further manipulation, electronic or otherwise. Toward the end, however, there is some simple granular synthesis to be heard.
The performance linked below left was presented in Smith Memorial Hall of the University
of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, at a vocal recital on January 30th,
2009, sung by the composer.
The video at the bottom of this page is from a different performance, recorded on October 1, 2010, at the SPARK festival in Minneapolis.
In the original text, the dying Vergil sees figures walking by,
describes their physiognomies and their gaits in loving detail, but
essentially fails to recognize them as people. Some of the recurring
keywords are Gesicht = visage Vielfalt = abundance vervielfältigt = multiplied Schädel = skull Erinnerung = memory/recall Schönheit = beauty Tod = death Vergessen = forgetting/oblivion Sesterzenrechnerei = money-counting
Most of the words of the text are not German words, though they have been created from
a German original, and the meanings of the new conglomerate words is
surmised by the (German-speaking) listener from the recognizable
particles. Thus, for example, the title "leuchtertrautfernemdnahes" includes the sounds of 'leuchten' (refulgence), 'vertraut' (familiar), 'fremd' (unfamiliar), 'fern' (distant) and 'nah' (near). The final '-es' makes it sound like an adjective.
The work is related to but not an essential part of the cycle Rausch des Vergessens.