Der ewige Atem

I have never had much to do with the accordion in my career up until now, although this instrument is at home in many different forms across the world. It is a great phenomenon how air can be turned into sounds as diverse as beeping, murmuring, chirping or wheezing – all very human forms of articulation. The rib cage fills itself with sounds and expels the air with more sounds. From this thought, my title emerged: Der ewige Atem [Eternal Breath]. Breathing in and out is a synonym for our human existence from birth up until our last moments – the eternal cycle of living and dying provided the ultimate inspiration for the addition of this extended epilogue to my Ode an die Nacht [Ode to the Night]. Harald Weiss