In this portrait, the composer Marina Khorkova forms multi-layered soundscapes full of contrasts from a wide range of multiphonics and noises. The composer lays the focus on the development of her own musical language, against the backdrop of various traditions of multitonality and the 'musique concrète instrumentale'. She meticulously explores the tonal properties and possibilities of the chamber music instruments by frequently using unusual playing techniques. As a pianist, she is particularly interested in the specific interaction of the natural multiphonics of the piano with multiphonics achieved by preparing this instrument.
The tonal physiognomy of the compositions is 'generally characterized rather by metallic harshness, inhospitable frequencies, raw and menacing sound-values than by tender harmonic whispering', says Dirk Wieschollek in the booklet text of the CD. VORderGRENZE focuses on existential sounds between life and death and on the struggle for breath. The trio klangNarbe, on the other hand, reveals a ragged soundscape. Metallic timbres and noise spectra of the percussion are fused with the multiphonics of the saxophone and the multiphonic (sometimes 17-tone) clusters of a prepared piano.
The performers, including the Ensemble Ascolta, the Trio Accanto as well as the Kairos Quartet, are given substantial leeway through the sometimes graphic notation, which contributes essentially to the energetic effect of the pieces. The metrical freedom of a_priori, for example, is elementary for 'continuously flowing tonal movements fluctuating in colour which go in search of a kind of original tonal state'. The vast majority of the works were recorded by Deutschlandfunk in Cologne especially for this portrait.
