Im Nebel, first prize-winner at the World Guitar International Competition in Novi Sad (Serbia) in 2013, derives from the desire to pay homage to the sculptor Kengiro Azuma (1926), who, in my opinion, is a real example of being an artist in a genuine way.
As in the works of the Japanese Master, matter exists to represents the void, the invisible: in the same way, the main subject of this piece is the relationship between sound and silence and I think that the guitar is, in itself, the ideal instrument to conduct this research. Its sound, rich in colors and nuances, fades away quickly, while taking the listener towards the imaginary, invisible world.
Someone might consider this characteristic a limitation; I think, instead, that this feature gives the guitar an evocative, highly imaginative power.
This short composition appears like a personal exploration seeking something we can neither see nor touch, almost like inside the fog of Hermann Hesse’s poem (Im Nebel), from which the piece derives the title and some suggestions.
Marco Ramelli