Enno Poppe’s works are probably performed more often than those of any other living German composer – not only in Germany. With his idiosyncratic manner of dealing with tradition, this red-haired artist, born in 1969, has developed an instantly recognizable musical style that fascinates and touches both specialists and listeners normally skeptical of new music.

No matter how wild or eccentric, how chaotic or structured Poppe’s pieces may sound, they always reveal the raw materials from which they are made: a small number of nondescript building blocks (quasi-motifs). The fascination for the listener consists in the perceptible transformation of these motifs.

Poppe has worked closely for many years as a conductor with the Ensemble Musikfabrik in Cologne and has written a number of pieces especially for the group. The current album collects these chamber music works, including Stoff for nine musicians. The German word “Stoff” can refer to fabric or any kind of material, including musical or literary material; the appearance and disappearance of motivic threads is also characteristic of the “Nouveau Roman”. The titles and sounds of the other works are also simultaneously direct and ambiguous.

This album is part of WERGO’s comprehensive series documenting Enno Poppe’s music.