Dieter Schnebel during a rehearsal of Mit diesen Händen, Gürzenich Hall, Cologne, 1991. Photo: Renate Hoffleit.
Dieter Schnebel and Michael Bach in Berlin, June 1998.
Photo: Renate Hoffleit.
“Mit diesen Händen”
First Performance December 14, 1992
Gürzenich Hall in Cologne.
Commemoration ceremony on the occasion of the 75th birthday of Heinrich Boell.
William Pearson, Voice and Michael Bach, Cello.
“When Michael Bach had some texts from Heinrich Böll’s unpublished works sent to me, the text Mit diesen Händen (With These Hands) appealed to me in particular. The experiences of the war reflected in it and its horrors did not only re-
The instrumental part developed in a constant dialog with the Cellist Michael Bach and in stimulation of his sound experiments. In particular the four-
Dieter Schnebel
Dieter Schnebel’s foreword to Mit diesen Händen.
Michael Bach, cello, and William Pearson, voice, during a rehearsal, Mit diesen Händen, Gürzenich Hall, Cologne, 1991. Photo: Renate Hoffleit.
Dieter Schnebel
Dieter Schnebel was interested in the possibilities of the curved bow from an early stage. During his studies, he was influenced by Albert Schweitzer’s writings on the curved bow. In Anschläge – Ausschläge for flute, cello and harpsichord, he already prescribed polyphonic playing with the “Bachbogen” in a solo cello passage in 1965.
In 1987, Schnebel composed the Fünf Inventionen for solo cello with curved bow, which Michael Bach began performing with his curved bow in 1991. In the score, Schnebel again referred to the bow he intended as the “Bachbogen”.
The Collaboration
The later collaboration between Dieter Schnebel and Michael Bach was also closely connected with the curved bow. For Mit diesen Händen, Schnebel was commissioned in 1992 to compose a work for voice and cello with curved bow. The premiere, performed by William Pearson and Michael Bach, took place on December 14, 1992, at the Gürzenich in Cologne.
The cello part can also be performed as a solo work under the title Etüden. The work includes a movement written entirely in four parts. In the course of practical performance, individual passages were later modified with Schnebel’s explicit approval.
273″ für Dieter Schnebel
In 2018, Michael Bach Bachtischa composed 273″ für Dieter Schnebel for cello and BACH.Bogen. The premiere took place in Stuttgart on September 14, 2018.
Video of the premiere:
Michael Bach Bachtischa, 273″ für Dieter Schnebel (2018)