Afterglow (2000) 18’
ob cl bn hrn perc hrp guit (ac.&el.) cimbalom vln va vc db electronics (2 CDs)
written for: Domestica Rotterdam
first performance: Domestica Rotterdam, Rotterdam, sept. 2000
performed since: by Nieuw Ensemble and Aarre Ensemble in the Netherlands
Commissioned by Theater Lantaren / Venster, Rotterdam.
Nominee Gaudeamusprize 2001, The Netherlands
Nominee Musica Nova Prize for Electroacoustic Music 2001, Czechia
Nominee Matthijs Vermeulen Aanmoedigingsprijs 2001, The Netherlands
“Afterglow by the German Florian Maier came as a pleasant surprise. A melancholic work (subtly interpreted by the Nieuw ensemble under Jurien Hempel), slowly flaring up from the darkness, mingling in perfect balance with the electronics, and fading away while still glowing.”
(-Trouw / NL, 6.9.2001)
“Afterglow [was a piece of] more than average Gaudeamus level”
(-De Volkskrant / NL, 8.9.2001)
“very subtle (...) Maier is an interesting composer and flamenco guitarist”
(-Gerard van der Leeuw, sept. 2001)
(-Het Parool, 21.3.2003)
A piece about “erotocomatose lucidity” - the echo of intense sensual or emotional pleasure after the actual event is over. The warm and ecstatic memory permits the mind to drift off into a vague vision on the border of sleeping and waking. The end depicts the slow dying of the flame, and its evaporation into space in a last wisp of smoke.
listen: Afterglow Clip!
listen on myspace
