Hans Zender (1936-)
Logos-Fragmente (Canto IX), pour 32 voix et quatre orchestres (2006-2008)

The texts on which Hans Zender's “Logos-Fragmente” [Logos Fragments] are based can be dated primarily to the first and second centuries AD and have been taken from the New Testament, early Gnostic writings, as well as from apocryphal sources among others. Some of these texts are fragments from larger works, others have been passed down to us in aphoristic form. Despite their differences of language and tone they share a similar spiritual and religious atmosphere. They deal with central human themes from the perspective of religious belief: the origins of humanity, its life force, its suffering and fate, the life of the individual, the connection between body and spirit, as well as the relationships of human beings to one another. When composing his “Logos-Fragmente”, however, Zender pursued the development of as different musical units as possible – analogous to the text material compiled from so many different sources: The character, formal qualities, and durations of the pieces should be as different as possible. As to the relationship of the various pieces to each other, common material – in the form of recurring motifs, melodies, or harmonies – was deliberately avoided. Furthermore the individual pieces were not intended to be part of a cycle: Each “fragment” is independent and can be performed alone; as a consequence, the order of the pieces has remained undetermined.