What do the first stages of a new work feel like to a composer and the performers? Ahead of its world premiere on 2 March in Hamburg’s Elbphilharmonie, violinist Hellen Weiss, cellist Gabriel Schwabe and composer David Philip Hefti share their experiences behind the scenes of Aus Licht gewoben (‘Woven from Light’) – Reflections for violin and cello
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Gabriel Schwabe 31 May 2024
David Philip Hefti heard Hellen and me play and wants to dedicate a new piece to us - very exciting news! Kammermusikfreunde Hamburg immediately agreed to hosting the world premiere at Elbphilharmonie in 2026. It’s wonderful when things come together like that!
David Philip Hefti 21 July 2025
Meeting with Hellen Weiss and Gabriel Schwabe in Berlin. We speak about musical preferences, about the particular qualities and technical possibilities of the instruments, about potential forms and trajectories of tension. We had an open, inspiring exchange.
Afterwards, I begin the conceptual work on the piece. I approach initial sound ideas cautiously, sketch inner landscapes, consider possible dramaturgical arcs. Not a single note has yet been written on paper – and yet the piece has already begun to breathe.
GS 29 July 2025
A fascinating phase in the project. Our meeting last week made the piece feel very real already and yet we don’t know at all what it will sound like. You feel involved and responsible while its development is completely out of your hands. In a strange way it is like expecting a child…
DPH 4 August 2025
Two weeks of intense engagement with the gathered material lie behind me. Sketches, rejections, new approaches. Today, at last, I write the first note on the blank page. An inconspicuous moment – and yet the true beginning.
DPH 28 October 2025
Finished. After phases of almost rapturous productivity and others in which the work stalled and resisted, I draw the double bar line on the final page. The ending is set. Now another search begins: for a title – poetic, yet not prescriptive. Open enough to leave space, precise enough to suggest an inner direction.
DPH 3 November 2025
The fair copy – that necessary yet painstaking part of the process – is complete. Every nuance reviewed once more, every articulation sharpened. That same day, the score is sent to the performers. From now on, the piece no longer rests in my hands alone.
Hellen Weiss 3 November 2025
The work arrived late in the night via email. Aus Licht gewoben (‘Woven from Light’) – Reflections for violin and cello. What a poetic title! The writing is very clear and the form looks classical as it’s written in three parts. It starts with arpeggios in harmonics with a bouncing bow and he notes scintillante - sparkling.
Lots of long harmonics in the middle part and the last passage looks rhythmically very complex with changing metres and syncopated rhythms. Violin and Cello are always off-set… Excited to have a first try!
GS 20 December 2025
As I approach the piece I try to get a good overview of the structure and I start isolating and working on the most challenging parts. Practising the piece reveals its trickiness even in the most innocent looking passages! I’ve never had to mark so many things in a score: fingerings, bowings, changes in dynamics, bow position, even when and where to turn the pages with the pedal.
The main thing it requires is a big range of precise bow control to get the harmonics and ricochet strokes to sound just right.
GS 5 January 2026
Started rehearsing the work together - it is a fantastic piece of music, very colourful and makes great use of the instruments’ possibilities. It also feels very much tailored to our playing. It’s very challenging technically and we’re enjoying getting creative and inventing solutions constantly!
HW 17 January 2026
While practising the piece and especially the double stopped harmonics, I realise even more how important the balance between the weight in the bow and left hand is. I’m experimenting with that feeling also in other repertoire. Trying to find a system in the very last passage, rehearsing it over and over again. It’s very tricky rhythmically and the pattern which made the notes somewhat predictable up until here seems to have been broken.
Before our heads explode we decide to give it a break - practising Schubert String Trio and Bach Partita in D minor to clear my head. It will help to come back at it fresh tomorrow.
GS 6 February 2026
An important part of our rehearsal process is finding and internalising the characters and gestures of this music to make things feel natural and spontaneous. We came up with some very helpful images for that. There have been some nice breakthroughs with certain passages and I look forward to hearing Philip’s thoughts next week!
HW 10 February 2026
Today we did a few run-throughs of the piece and it seems like the three parts are coming together and connecting. While playing the piece the images and colours get clearer in my head and I start hearing all kinds of different lights: sparkling lights, lightning and thunder, lights from heaven, electronic lights, laser lights…
DPH 12 February 2026
First joint rehearsal. I am deeply impressed by the level at which Hellen and Gabriel have already internalised the work. After their intensive preparation, much of it sounds organic, as if it had grown naturally. We refine details, transitions, the balance of the most delicate shades of sound. My anticipation of the upcoming world premiere is almost impossible to contain!
HW 12 February 2026
We had our meeting with Philip today and I was impressed with how detailed he listened to us and how clear and specific his ideas are. His suggestions opened up new ways of thinking about several places. And he asked us to play the last part even faster! Let’s see how fast we can get. Can’t wait for the premiere at Elbphilharmonie Hamburg on 2 March!
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