300 notes in 4 minutes, a brand new composition by Karlheinz Essl, originally scored for piano, played on a vibraphone with the depressed sustain pedal.

Score available for free: www.essl.at

Although notated solely in quavers, the tempo encompasses a wide range from very slow to extremely fast. Starting with a speed of MM = 50, it gradually accelerates to MM = 400 which equals three “time octaves”, speaking with Karlheinz Stockhausen (cf. his famous article ...how time passes... from 1957). A similar transition also happens in the harmonic domain where the range of three octaves (from F to f”) finally collapses into a single pitch (f'):

And also in the dynamics, a permanent process of crescendo and diminuendo takes place. Needless to mention, all this processes happen simultaneously at the same time. Despite its strict structure, the piece should be played in a fluent rubato attitude with lots of espressivo.

Recorded by Karlheinz Essl on January 17th, 2019 at Studio kHz. Binaural recording - listen with headphones.

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