saying the same thing 14 times over

This is the first piece out of a cycle of 14 pieces (hence the title) for Soprano and Flute, which I wrote for Kaoko Amano (Soprano) and Iva Kovač (Flutes). The cycle belongs, in a way, to a number of pieces under the collective identifier "exercises in transience", this one being the seventh "exercise". The unifying idea behind the pieces in this work series is not any kind of musical of formal aspect, but rather their metaphorical content, as in a way all of the pieces aim to work with the sensation of transient, passing life, transient reality, being mortal. There are no clear-cut indications as to how this needs to be adressed in a piece for it to belong to the series, however they do tend to feature similarly fragile sounds, partially unstable constellations, loose formal strategies and so on.

Some of these characteristics do also apply here, however the (perceived) necessity to use some text for the piece because of the presence of a singer lead to a slightly different approach. In "saying the same thing 14 times over", 14 different texts, from different authors across time(s), in different contexts and from different parts of the globe, are used to say, essentially, the same thing. This is also reflected in the flute part which is based on a recurring set of pitches. 

This is a live recording of the piece from the first performance which took place on May 25th, 2025, at Neue Musik in St. Ruprecht, Vienna, with the very fabulous performers Kaoko Amano (Soprano) and Kovač (Flutes).

saying the same thing 14 times over - I (after Jorge Luis Borges)

This is the seventh piece out of a cycle of 14 pieces (hence the title) for Soprano and Flute, which I wrote for Kaoko Amano (Soprano) and Iva Kovač (Flutes). The cycle belongs, in a way, to a number of pieces under the collective identifier "exercises in transience", this one being the seventh "exercise". The unifying idea behind the pieces in this work series is not any kind of musical of formal aspect, but rather their metaphorical content, as in a way all of the pieces aim to work with the sensation of transient, passing life, transient reality, being mortal. There are no clear-cut indications as to how this needs to be adressed in a piece for it to belong to the series, however they do tend to feature similarly fragile sounds, partially unstable constellations, loose formal strategies and so on.

Some of these characteristics do also apply here, however the (perceived) necessity to use some text for the piece because of the presence of a singer lead to a slightly different approach. In "saying the same thing 14 times over", 14 different texts, from different authors across time(s), in different contexts and from different parts of the globe, are used to say, essentially, the same thing. This is also reflected in the flute part which is based on a recurring set of pitches. 


This is a live recording of the piece from the first performance which took place on May 25th, 2025, at Neue Musik in St. Ruprecht, Vienna, with the very fabulous performers Kaoko Amano (Soprano) and Kovač (Flutes).

saying the same thing 14 times over - VII (after Wang Wei)



This is the fourth piece out of a cycle of 14 pieces (hence the title) for Soprano and Flute, which I wrote for Kaoko Amano (Soprano) and Iva Kovač (Flutes). The cycle belongs, in a way, to a number of pieces under the collective identifier "exercises in transience", this one being the seventh "exercise". The unifying idea behind the pieces in this work series is not any kind of musical of formal aspect, but rather their metaphorical content, as in a way all of the pieces aim to work with the sensation of transient, passing life, transient reality, being mortal. There are no clear-cut indications as to how this needs to be adressed in a piece for it to belong to the series, however they do tend to feature similarly fragile sounds, partially unstable constellations, loose formal strategies and so on.

Some of these characteristics do also apply here, however the (perceived) necessity to use some text for the piece because of the presence of a singer lead to a slightly different approach. In "saying the same thing 14 times over", 14 different texts, from different authors across time(s), in different contexts and from different parts of the globe, are used to say, essentially, the same thing. This is also reflected in the flute part which is based on a recurring set of pitches.

This is a live recording of the piece from the first performance which took place on May 25th, 2025, at Neue Musik in St. Ruprecht, Vienna, with the very fabulous performers Kaoko Amano (Soprano) and Kovač (Flutes).


saying the same thing 14 times over - IV (after Li Bai)



This is the ninth piece out of a cycle of 14 pieces (hence the title) for Soprano and Flute, which I wrote for Kaoko Amano (Soprano) and Iva Kovač (Flutes). The cycle belongs, in a way, to a number of pieces under the collective identifier "exercises in transience", this one being the seventh "exercise". The unifying idea behind the pieces in this work series is not any kind of musical of formal aspect, but rather their metaphorical content, as in a way all of the pieces aim to work with the sensation of transient, passing life, transient reality, being mortal. There are no clear-cut indications as to how this needs to be adressed in a piece for it to belong to the series, however they do tend to feature similarly fragile sounds, partially unstable constellations, loose formal strategies and so on.

Some of these characteristics do also apply here, however the (perceived) necessity to use some text for the piece because of the presence of a singer lead to a slightly different approach. In "saying the same thing 14 times over", 14 different texts, from different authors across time(s), in different contexts and from different parts of the globe, are used to say, essentially, the same thing. This is also reflected in the flute part which is based on a recurring set of pitches.

This is a live recording of the piece from the first performance which took place on May 25th, 2025, at Neue Musik in St. Ruprecht, Vienna, with the very fabulous performers Kaoko Amano (Soprano) and Kovač (Flutes).


saying the same thing 14 times over - IX (after Yuan Hongdao)

www.hannesdufek.com // hannes_dufek@gmx.net

I am a Vienna-based composer, improviser and musician. Mostly contemporary / new music, with an emphasis on socials space(s) and agencies emerging from artistic practice. Maybe consequently, I am also very interested in making music and sound for theatre and/or theatrical pieces, or other ways of working with music and sound beyond the finite space of concert practice.  

www.hannesdufek.com

Freelance composer, sound artist, improviser and musician * Dad of two (2020, 2023) * Co-founder and long-time chairman of Ensemble Platypus (2006-2019) * Member of makemake produktionen (2011-2017) * As of 2019 holder of a doctoral degree (Dr.artium)* Educator at MDW / Vienna (2023)

Some scores are available at Verlag Neue Musik and via babelscores
http://www.verlag-neue-musik.de 
https://www.babelscores.com/HannesDufek

Other links you might be interested in:
www.platypus.or.at
www.makemake.at

saying the same thing 14 times over - VII (after Wang Wei)

Hannes Dufek