Pas de deux (2025) for orchestra
Commissioned by the Kammerorchest Basel
I would compare the genesis of Pas de deux to a lizard’s tail growing back – except that here an entirely new body grows back onto the tail. Drawing on the classic four-part ballet form of the same name – entrée, adagio, variations, and coda – our two protagonists, solo violin and solo cello, whirl through the first three sections as the body that grows back onto the tail (the coda): they spin, romp, and reel, caught in a dynamic discussion of positions and perspectives, ideas and dreams, until they finally sweep the whole orchestra along with them. As the culminating point, I paraphrase the final scene of my opera Adam und Eva: a proclamation of individual freedom, responsibility, and creativity, with the mantra “love, beauty, serenity, novelty, mischief, and mirth,” akin to a wild, unbridled dance. My working title, Eve and Adam’s dance fight at 288 beats per minute, points to the central importance of pulse as the driving force of th
