Leopold Brauneiss
De natura silentii
The title De natura silentii (about the nature of silence) refers, on the one hand, to Krzysztof Penderecki's sonoristic orchestral pieces De natura sonoris I +II (about the nature of sound) and, on the other hand, to the second movement of Arvo Pärt's double concerto Tabula rasa entitled Silentium (silence). My composition is therefore warmly dedicated to Arvo and Nora Pärt, to whom I owe so much as a person and artist.
It is a common wisdom that pauses, moments of silence are important in music – especially in their relationship to the music that surrounds them: In my piece, what is played is a modest musical gesture that hesitantly gains space before disappearing again. Like the music, may the listeners pause and be peaceful!
Leopold Brauneiss, (b. 1961) is an Austrian composer, musicologist and teacher, based in Vienna. He studied at the University of Vienna (musicology) and the University of Music and Performing Arts (music education, piano, composition with Heinz Kratochwl) and received his doctorate in music in 1988. From 1990 to 2010 he has thought music theory at the J.M.-Hauer conservatory Wiener Neustadt, since 2004 he has been lecturer for harmony and counterpoint at the University of Vienna, since 2006 he has held a lectureship in harmony, counterpoint and instrumentation at the Hochschule für Musik und Theater „Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy“ Leipzig, The main field of his musicological research is the so called Tintinnabuly Style of Arvo Pärt, whom he has known personally for over 20 years. The style's characteristic aesthetics of reduction as well as the simple yet strict structural of its composition techniqes has influenced his music to a great extent. He tries, however, to enrich it someitmes by adding chromatic or even dodecaphonic elements within the tonal frame. His works have been performed by renowed artists such as Gidon Kremer, ensembles like Kremerata baltica and orchestras like Tonkuenstlerorchester Niederoesterreich and have been presented at prestiguos festivals like Wien Modern and Kammermusikfestival Lockenhaus.