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Programme Note

Poul Ruders BREAK-DANCE

Break-Dance is an obvious next of kin to the two clarinet trios Vox in Rama and Tattoo for Three. The new piece, however, combines the roaring despair of the first trio with the twisted rhythmical display of the latter. The title, of course, is a reference to the modern street-dance electric boogie, but the very music itself takes the naming most literally indeed: formally and rhythmically, after a straightforward head-on opening, it breaks into isolated, jagged fragments, winding up in a bouncing piano cadenza. Albeit not an obvious piano concerto, the piano part hovers in the front line, the same way the horizontal guy, ringing himself on the pavement, is doubtless an eye-catcher to passers-by. The springy "body-language" that kicks off the piece suddenly stiffens and freezes into hard-edged blocks and the real "dance of breaks" emerges into focus. Break-dance is commissioned by and dedicated to Yvar Mikhashoff and Spectrum.

Poul Ruders