»to Julia Bungardt-Eckhart with great gratitude«

(Texts from Franz Kafka's conversation slips, written in the sanatorium in Kierling, where he spent the last two months of his life)

Instrumentation: mezzo-soprano, flute, clarinet, string quartet, and piano

Duration: 7'18”

Notes on the work:

On June 2, 1924, the penultimate day of his life, Franz Kafka wrote a letter to his parents: it is his last written testimony. He could no longer speak due to the laryngeal tuberculosis he was suffering from. After his admission to a private sanatorium in Kierling near Vienna, he was only able to communicate by means of conversation slips, which serve as a poignant testament to the painful death of an extraordinary writer and human being. Thirteen of these documented 'penultimate' comments constitute the foundation of this composition. They are listed in the order in which they appear:

1  I find talking a strain today.

2  Do you have a moment? Then please lightly spray the peonies.

3  And the wonderful memories of Gießhübl, for instance, a lovely little forest village near Karlsbad.

4  See the lilacs, fresher than morning.

5  I am already so poisoned that the body can hardly understand the pure fruit.

6  Somewhere in today's newspapers there is an excellent little item on the treatment of cut flowers; they’re so terribly thirsty, one more such newspaper.

7  How many years will you be able to stand it? How long will I be able to stand your standing it?

8  When it's quiet for a while I’m glad.

9  The trouble is that I cannot drink a single glass of water, though the craving itself is a little satisfaction.

10 Where is the eternal spring?

11 How wonderful that is, isn't it? The lilac – dying, it drinks, goes on swilling.

12 Every limb as tired as a person.

13 So the help goes away again without helping.

Source: Franz Kafka, Letters to Friends, Family, and Editors, translated by Richard and Clara Winston. New York: Schocken Books, 1977.