mémorial

Otfried Büsing: mémorial (2025) for piano
edition gravis, Brühl. eg 3226

Style, general character
This aphoristic piece places the unfolding of a sound-quotation at its center, referring to the Prisoners' Chorus from Ludwig van Beethoven's Fidelio and its still-topical message ("O what a joy, in the open air to breathe freely once again!").

Form, structure
In three brief attempts, marked "liberamente, quasi sognando," quasi-improvisatory arpeggios open out toward the fragmented memory traces of Beethoven's music, whose sounds are then broadened through fermatas.

Notation, duration, difficulty
Apart from the absence of barlines, the three-staff score shows no notational peculiarities.
Duration: approx. 3 minutes
Difficulty level: intermediate

Comment
The piece is very well suited to opening up any kind of piano recital with a moment of inwardness and reflection. Its performance does not require experience with contemporary music.

Source: neue musikzeitung, December 2025 / January 2026 issue, section "Neue Partituren," review by Stefan Drees. Reprint with friendly permission.

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It is not immediately apparent from this composition by Otfried Büsing (b. 1955) that it constitutes a musical memorial to Beethoven. Only when playing it through does one recognize the quotation from Fidelio: "O what joy, in the open air to breathe freely again." In keeping with this, Büsing frames the quotation with refreshingly free sequences of notes. Even the performance direction contains the idea of freedom: liberamente. The F-sharp-major triad, struck three times at the end, sounds like a promise. On this occasion, that promise can be fulfilled, since Mémorial is so easy to play that truly everyone can share in the promised freedom. This composition, as engaging as it is meaningful, is dedicated to Susanne Kessel, curator and organizer of the composition project "250 piano pieces for Beethoven."

Piano News, issue 6/25, p. 92, "Kurz angespielt," review of Otfried Büsing, Mémorial (2025).