Ein Lied eintöniger Weise (2026)
 

Ein Lied eintöniger Weise (2026) references a Brahms setting (in his 13 Canons for Female Voices, Op. 113) of a Rückert poem; the translation:
 

Monotonous is love’s sorrow,
A song with only one note;
Yet always when I heard it,
I had to softly hum along.
 

When Brahms sets it, he uses the last song of Schubert’s Winterreise (“Der Leiermann” (The Hurdy-Gurdy Man)) as source material to create his own work. My solo piano piece also draws from the Schubert, building on the drone fifths that recall the hurdy-gurdy.