In the work list of Alois Bröder, born 1961 in Darmstadt, you can find beside works for orchestra, ensemble and smaller chamber music instrumentations, vocal music and electronic music also a number of compositions, which are combined under the heading "music for children and young persons". This allows to suppose that it is Bröder a special concern to make children and youngsters contemporary music more understandable and to bring it nearer to them. Now in the Cologne publishing company Tonger under the title Schattenlicht are come out the already in 1992 composed and one year later first performed "six too difficult pieces for young pianists", as Alois Bröder adds in the subtitle. The edition occurred in two versions: Beside the pure note edition there is a version illustrated by Susanne Resch whose in watercolor technology formed figurative interpretations offer a visual entrance in the pieces. The points of contact of the illustrations to the music are of different nature: sometimes the musical character is transferred into an extra-musical idea, sometimes the compositional structure or the movement of playing is concretized in an emblem.
The six atonal conceived piano pieces are note down traditionally, melodically and rhythmically they are well graspable, to call not difficult under technical aspect: no typically pianistic virtuosity is demanded. Even if the pieces include all registers of the keyboard, the pianist comes out in sections with one hand position, also no large hands are necessary. However the pieces must be formed, the few tones of the filigree two voices of the first piece must be dynamic and agogic brought to a point, so that the desired rocking character is able to appear. In order to make the contrary elements of the second piece (hard staccato basses, a cantilena and a waltz reminiscence) also for listener experienceably, it needs a clear distinction by the interpreter; for this surely helpfully are the geometrical signs, which explain the note text additionally. The third piece, a fast perpetuum mobile, is in its irregularity perhaps the difficultest of the collection. The artistically associated nature phenomena of the last three pieces - lightning, volcano and sunset - are valuable supports, to bring to sound the material kept by Alois Bröder under pianistic claims consciously easily comprehensible. A challenge!
I recommend to select the illustrated edition for the work with pupils.
Maria Zeidler-Kröll
(in: Üben und Musizieren 1, February/March 2006)
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Six self-willed vignettes, written for young curious fingers in the language of our time, in order to open the access to it, in order to make curious and desire to it, simple without to be simplifying and nevertheless not too simple, because demanding in the musical result. In addition in the traditional notation easily comprehensible and understandable.
Eckart Rohlfs
(from: nmz April 2007)
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