Open Doors

Open Doors by Bernd Franke is a 17-minute work for bandoneon (or accordion) and orchestra:

(1(Picc).1.1(Bb-/Eb-Cl).1. – 1.1.FlgHn.1.1 – Timp.3Perc – Hf – Pf – Str).

Created in April 2002 in New York, the atmosphere in the New York City subway was the inspiration for this work. When you open the doors, you hear and see new and excellent street musicians from all over the world in every station, a grandiose soundscape in the middle of the city.

In Open Doors, organically proliferating, aleatoric structures overlay hierarchically conducted orchestral structures again and again, and chamber music softens the orchestral impact. In addition, sounds recorded in the New York subway are integrated into the composition via feeds.

The work commissioned by Mitteldeutscher Rundfunk was premiered on January 21, 2003 in the Gewandhaus in Leipzig by Per Arne Glorvigen (bandoneon) and the MDR Symphony Orchestra, conducted by Rolf Gupta.