This is an excerpt of the Ballade by Frank Martin I recorded with the Bamberger Symphoniker.
To me in his music Martin stops the time.
Written in a time of war in 1939/41 it is dark – yet I find defiance in it, a life-affirming energy.
Paul Klee’s painting Rosengarten from 1920 reminds me of this defiance. It is a big “Yet!” which stands opposite this darkness, a warmth that is bigger and embraces anything else.
The roses of Paul Klee stand for this warmth despite all suffering. It could be a symbol of crucifixion, growing in a place where it seems impossible to grow as a rose. Yet – they grow.