Every person has to go through an inner revolution before dedicating the rest of his life to composing.
For me it was the experience of the wealth of musical resonances calling for expression and realisation. I am firmly convinced that these resonances constitute the divine spark of music. I have been blessed with an ear which continuously rediscovers the richness of tonal language as a medium of musical communication. Today our aesthetic perception is different from that of the classical and Romantic periods, otherwise we would merely be imitators. But it is to the classical period that we owe an immeasurably large heritage, which will always remain within our reach, whether in exploiting all musical thoughts, in consistently creating unity whilst nonetheless taking pleasure in contrasts, or in the wealth of relationships between melodies, harmonies and tunes, as well as rhythms. In contrast to subjecting music to parameters, in this way we create as much freedom as possible, both in detail and in the major forms. Everyone finds his own style when he finds himself. It is only there that one can express oneself with the greatest vitality. In common with many generations before me, I have been inspired by the folk music of various countries to write some pieces. This is a recollection of our roots, which is still highly necessary today. At present, thank God, we have connections to a large number of nations, and are therefore not fixated on a particular national musical style. In a way, the whole world has become our home.
In my Klezmer Serenade Op. 18 it was Jewish music, in my Flute Capriccio Op. 43 it was eastern European music, in my 3rd String Quartet Op. 44 it was Czech and Austrian music which inspired me; in my Piano Trio Op. 40 it was even a Chinese erhu player. You do not have to be born in a certain country to internalise its folk music and integrate it into your own language. This has nothing to do with the world music goulash frequently encountered today.
My spiritual works are open to people of all denominations and religious orientations who have built up a personal relationship with God and have made it a part of their life.
A Gloria (Op. 5) expresses the joy of people about living on at the highest stage of humanity. In the Passion Songs, Op. 36, the fierce struggle to accept the suffering and consequently also to accept Christ’s sacrificial death is manifested. In the motet "In the Beginning was the Word" Op. 42, the miracle of the spiritual creation of humans is expressed; and the Last Supper Op. 21 expresses the deep loving attachment of Jesus to all of us if we seek to be near Him.
Many of these works were performed for the first time at the Neues Künstlerforum Wien, the Musical Summer Festival in East Frisia - Groningen, the Wien-Klang Ensemble, the Webern Sinfonietta, the Köchel Gesellschaft in Krems, the Chorus Musica Sacra, and others.