FOR SOPRANO, FLUTE in C / G (noted as transposed) AND PICCOLO
on nine poems by Evi Kliemand
Zurich / Intragna 1984
duration of performance: approx.16'
Text: Evi Kliemand

The composition 'Zwischen Himmel und Erde' ('Between heaven and earth') was premiered on 10th May 1985 in the 'Helferei Grossmünster' in Zurich. The performers were Jeannette Fischer, soprano, and Werner Zumsteg, flute. A second premiere for Liechtenstein took place in a concert with the same musicians on 9th November 1985 in the 'Staatliche Kunstsammlung' in Vaduz as part of the comprehensive exhibition of Ferdinand Nigg's oeuvre (1865-1949). The nine poems accompanied the programme in a bibliophile booklet. This concert was recorded on cassette. As the author of the first Ferdinand Nigg monograph, Evi Kliemand had also dedicated some poems to the pictorial works of this important artist in the dawn of modernity, including poems IV and V of this cycle set to music by Ermano Maggini. In 1987 the other poems were also available in print: Evi Kliemand 'Die Einfaltslieder', published by 'Innerschweizer Lyriktexte'. Two of the poems set to music 'Als ob die Nacht mich / leise in sich spräche …' and 'Komm ich weiss ein Gesicht …' had already been published in 1980 in her poetry collection 'Grund genug' in the series SPEKTRUM/5 Zurich and presented in the Theater an der Winkelwiese by the editor Fritz Rellstab. In 1981 the well-known musicologist and conductor Kurt Pahlen wrote in a letter to Ermano Maggini: „Dear Maestro, I have to thank you very much from the bottom of my heart: for the valuable poetry book of Evi Kliemand, for the dear greetings, - but above all again and again for your Canto V for flute and your work in general, which I count among the truly valuables in our time. To have become acquainted with it and thus to have come into contact with you is for me one of the beautiful moments of the year 1981 and thus of my life.“ Posthumously, the vocal work ZWISCHEN HIMMEL UND ERDE was recorded on CD in collaboration with Radio Studio Lugano Rete 2 with the same performers who had been at the composer's side during his lifetime. (1995, Edition Jecklin JS 311-2 Szene Schweiz). The accompanying text states: 'The first performance took place within a concert with works by Mahler and Schoeck on 10th May 1985 at the 'Helferei Grossmünster', Zurich, with the performers of this recording: Werner Zumsteg and Jeannette Fischer. The border-crossing quality of the single voice, which is already evident in the early flute works, is fully exploited here, almost glowed out. Together with the human voice, the flute becomes even more exclusively the embodiment of breath.' (ek 1995)

It is peculiar to this work that when one looks through the lists of works, it is among those compositions that have been most conspicuously performed posthumously by several interpreters. The press reports are correspondingly diverse. Already after the premiere, the NZZ reported this on 14th May 1985:

With the recording on CD in 1995 (with the interpreters Jeannette Fischer and Werner Zumsteg), all works for flute solo could be published posthumously, in addition to further works, e.g. the Trio for Violin, Guitar and Double Bass. Also thanks to the commitment of the Fondazione Ermano Maggini and other performers, 'Zwischen Himmel und Erde' was performed several times in 2000: on 14th May in the Catholic parrochial church Eschen and on 22nd May in the Evangelical Reformed church in Vaduz . The interpreters were Hieronymus Schädler, flute, and Cornelia Rheinberger, soprano. The same performed the work once more two years later, this time on the occasion of the posthumous premiere of Canto XIX for Organ composed in 1988; (see also in this edition, Verlag Müller&Schade, Bern).

On 23rd July 2000, a memorable concert took place in the Chiesa Parrocchiale in Intragna, Ermano Maggini's birthplace. It was dedicated exclusively to the son of the village, under the patronage of Ticino Musica and its director Jano Meszaros, 'un concerto dedicato esclusivamente al compositore Ermano Maggini (1931-1991)'. The work discussed here, 'Zwischen Himmel und Erde', was excellently performed by Barbara Meszaros, soprano, and Massimo Zicari, fluto (cf. CD live recording by Ticino Musica. The Ensemble del Ticino Musica e i giovani delle masterclasses also performed the following works at a high level: 'Hiob' for wind quintet, Canto XIV and Canto XXI for string quartet, Torso I for two violoncellos and 'Meditazione su una tomba', the composition for the six bells of the church tower. This work was live performed above the roofs of Intragna.

'Zwischen Himmel und Erde' for soprano and flute, Zurich/Intragna 1984 – Barbara Meszaros, soprano, and Massimo Zicari, flute: “Ermano Maggini set several cycles of poems to music, among them early poems by Evi Kliemand.
He was seeking the expression he called 'generoso', 'fuori del tempo', 'mistico', he saw human being standing between the transcending spaces and the bound existence, similar to his Magnificat and Stabat Mater, motifs which give the composition 'Zwischen Himmel und Erde' a mystical and at the same time a poetic, transcending expression (cf. CD Jecklin 1994)

Intragna lies on a rocky spur between the mountain rivers Isorno and Melezza – hence 'inter-amnes'. This is also where the poet and painter Evi Kliemand has had her studio since 1973. In the third poem one senses something of the magic of the landscape:
„there the two streams rest - with inward fire - over inward senses - - come on - I know I've seen the human being - - between heaven and earth – as carved in stone – I've seen their face“ - come on.“

Text: Evi Kliemand 2018/2019
Translation: Thomas Batliner 2022
Fondazione Ermano Maggini Intragna


Text zur Werkgeschichte und Redaktion:
Evi Kliemand (2018/2019)
Fondazione Ermano Maggini Intragna


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