KLAS TORSTESSON
Lantern Lectures, Volume IV
Selfportrait with percussion
HENRYK GÓRECKI
Kleines Requiem für eine Polka, op. 66

ASKO|SCHÖNBERG
conductor Hans Leenders
percussion Peppie Wiersma

Klas Torstensson grew up in the fifties and sixties with the music of The Rolling Stones, Frank Zappa and The Beatles (later followed by Varèse and Xenakis). Little wonder that rhythm has left an indelible stamp on his musical life. Self-portrait with percussion (2006) is an ode to percussion in the form of nine percussive miniatures. The work is also a tribute to Peppie Wiersma, who is the soloist interpreting these nine personages. Self-portrait is the fifth part of Lantern Lectures, an evening-length cycle for small ensemble, composed by Torstensson and commissioned by ensembles from Norway, Sweden, Canada, Vienna and the Asko Ensemble, as it was then known. At the festival's request one Polish piece was added. Asko|Schönberg choose Kleines Requiem für eine Polka, composed by Górecki in 2003 for the Schönberg Ensemble, as it was then known.