Jeney Selfquotations

The title of the chamber piece Self-Quotations already carries the dangerof sentimental retrospect. Of course, Jeney rejects this possibility: hesummarizes the confrontation with his own career so far not in a large-formatcomposition intended to be representative, but in a chamber work written forfive instruments. Self-control and the tension that comes with it is alsomanifested in the fact how he highlights the self-quotations from theiroriginal environment, completely transforms them, and, as if they were justfound objects, is preoccupied with what he can do with them. Distancingoneself from erupting emotions is associated with playfulness in theSelf-Quotations. The playfulness in Jeney's work can be grasped in a varietyof compositional processes, all of which call attention to the fact that inthis retrospective work the composer was primarily concerned with how toconstruct a composition from as few and simple musical elements as possible. (Anna Dalos)