»Weight and Load« is a contemplation of two chords, locked in their own solidity and yet in constant motion. They shift subtly and tangibly, at times deviating together, at times separately. 

The piece draws inspiration from Stockhausen’s Klavierstück IX, though »Weight and Load« contains neither antithesis nor synthesis. Instead, it opens windows into uninhabitable sonic spaces and presents chords as self-contained worlds. »Weight« represents immovable heaviness, the sheer mass that presses on a structure, while »load« reflects a dynamic burden, that which shapes, deforms or even threatens to break the framework. A quote by Heiner Müller accompanied me like a mantra during the composition of this piece: »Only strong forms help against pain«. And the fact that I am actually writing this text about chords and structures has something to do with another of Müller’s lines: »What I analyze cannot depress me«. Whether this is actually the case, I dare to doubt, but the thought that it could be gives me hope.

Brigitta Muntendorf is a composer whose interdisciplinary work spans instrumental, orchestral and choral settings. She develops new concepts such as radical listening and environmental storytelling, and her artistic research explores fields such as 3D audio and AI voice cloning. Muntendorf’s compositions have received numerous accolades, including a prize from the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation. Her works have been presented at leading international music and arts festivals, including the Wiener Festwochen and Kyoto Experiment. She is the founder and former artistic director of Ensemble Garage. Since 2018, she has served as Professor of Composition at the Hochschule für Musik und Tanz in Cologne. In 2024, she became a member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences, Humanities and the Arts and beginning September 1, 2025, she will assume the role of Artistic Director of the KunstFestSpiele Herrenhausen in Hanover.

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