Lied im Wald

Cello and piano
4.5 minutes
2023

This work is a duet for cello and piano using Schoenberg's twelve-tone system. Inspired by art song tropes, lost love, and forest imagery, the piece follows a protagonist's journey through a forest to reunite with their love interest. Representing the protagonist, the cello plays variations on the first half of the prime tone row while the piano uses the inverted and retrograde inverted tone row to illustrate the forest.

The tone row is constructed to be divided into two parts: the protagonist's six notes and the love interest's six notes, which form whole-tone scales. This adds a mythological or imaginary quality to the piece, to play into the storytelling aspect.

The presentation of the entire love interest’s theme is delayed until near the end. As the piece moves to the end, more notes are revealed. This symbolizes the protagonist's gradual approach toward reuniting with their love, reminiscent of a siren call.