The solo piece for guitar Erdferne was written while Bröder was studying with Toni Völker (1987/1988). For this reason it perhaps reflects the young composers search for differentiation of rhythm and colour, for the most extreme guitar sounds. In this composition the variety is rampant, it appears to be coincidental and, to the listener’s perception, does not seem to have a stringent construction plan. Admittedly, there are parts which correspond to one another, such as some of the beginning and end bars which are more or less mirror images. This symmetry is, however, not immediately apparent to the reader, or the unknowing listener, so that it is only intimated on a ‘subterranean’ level. The juxtaposition of meditative, reflective moments and metrically hammering moments draw the listener involuntarily into a dream landscape. Even the playing instructions exude wildness, unpredictability or technical challenges: "nervously", "presto possible", "whistling", "gropingly (the hands)", "knotted together", "ponderously panting", "in absolute immobility". Starting with a triple sforzato Bartók pizzicato in a close harmony on the fingerboard which triggers vibrato, trills, string shifts and rhythmical oscillations and which also appears to be the central impulse for all the following articulations, the solo guitar tells a story with no cogent logical thread. Apart from a few short interruptions, it meanders, at times singing, at others briskly making its way through sound-spaces with repetitions, shaking or gnawing effects, whose stand-alone lack of development aptly characterises the land of dreams which is full of associations. Thus, over and above the astronomic definition of the name, it becomes symbolic for a lack of contact with reality. The elliptical orbit of the psyche encompasses profound experiences and deep uncertainties, as well as justified hopes, profound joy of living and unmotivated banalities. The impression of something lost in chaos, something chimera-like, is only resolved, if at all, with the last two arpeggio chords – a sort of sobering blink of the eyes on awakening.
Veronika Jezovšek
(in the booklet from "Chamber Music for Guitar")
(Translation: David Boyd)