2012 | 8’30” | oboe, clarinet, soprano saxophone, bass clarinet, bassoon, lo-fi digital electronics

The Cold War meant a division not only of Berlin, but of the world at large. Berlin, though, has become a token as the division there was most visible. weltjugend U6 [1984] is a piece that is based on this division, albeit the one underground. The U-bahnhof Stadion der Weltjugend, named so by the GDR government, was never open for the public. Only West-Berlin travellers could see the ghost station while passing through the East Berlin sector. The piece soundscapes the icky ghost station, with rusty, screeching electronics which evolve into noisy beats, underlining the ‘world youth’ ironically trying to break out of this situation.

weltjugend U6 [1984] was selected by the Luzern-based nexus reedquintet as their pick from the Calefax PAN Composition Competition 2012.

Performed by nexus reedquintet (Annatina Kull, oboe; Marita Kohler, clarinet; Sandro Blank, soprano saxophone; Nicola Katz, bass clarinet; Maurus Conte, bassoon)
Special thanks to Jannik Giger for his help with the sound mixing and the recording.