The fascination with the combination of art harmonium and piano, with its diverse color, tonal, and technical possibilities, has now almost entirely faded into the background of musical interest. It has probably not been seriously pursued compositionally for 100 years – although at that time, the art harmonium was often predicted to play an important role in 20th-century music as a concert instrument. This role was later taken over by electronic instruments such as the Hammond organ or the synthesizer. After performances of the most important works of this bygone era, which was then primarily present in bourgeois salons, represented by composers such as Sigfrid Karg-Elert, César Franck, Alexandre Guilmant, Camille Saint-Saëns, Charles-Marie Widor, Marie Prestat, and Laetitia Sari, I was more than curious to learn how living composers would engage with my age-old idea of writing "New Music for Art Harmonium and Piano." The result of this artistic adventure, a kind of entering a terra incognita, as Alois Bröder so aptly puts it, which now spans almost a decade, we were able to begin with an initial recording session in the Corona winter of 2020 and complete it at the beginning of May 2024. I am extremely grateful to all those involved in the composition – and of course to Friedhelm for his cover art – as well as to my friend and duo partner Jan, who never tired of introducing them to the world of the incredibly diverse and sensitive possibilities of his fascinating instrument. I also owe thanks to my friend and composer Reinhold Finkbeiner (1929–2010), through whose influence and music I came into contact with the latest music at a very early age and with growing pleasure. Without him, this project would not have been possible!
Ernst Breidenbach