Tocka

Instrumentation : Saxophone Quartet (Four Saxophone Altos)

Duration : 8' Ca.

Year of Composition : 2017

Program notes:

"No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases it may be the desire for somebody of something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom."

— Vladimir Nabokov

Saxophone quartet was commissioned by Corinna Lenneis for her play "Geh weg, damit ich glücklich sein kann"

Vienna city hall September 30th. 2017