Questions (If I were rain)

Bernd Franke’s Questions (If I were rain) is a 21-minute work for five voices and the fourth piece that Bernd Franke has composed for the Leipzig-based vocal ensemble amacord (founded in 1992 by five former members of the Thomanerchor). Texts by Khalil Gibran and Emily Dickinson are framed by two songs with words by Sumitra and Meenu, two children from Calcutta. Franke employs aleatoric elements in the score in order to give a certain role to the elements of chance and improvisation that have always played a large part in the music of various cultures and epochs. Questions (If I were rain) was commissioned by amacord and premiered on 5 October 2012 at the Gewandhaus in Leipzig. This new edition (EP 14471) is the performing score of the work.