The choral poems are one of the works with which I entered the competition for the composition diploma at the University of Music and Performing Arts in Vienna. The text for the third poem was written during a night train ride, triggered by the observation of passing lights. My output, which was still very small at that time, would only later - through the encounter with Leonard Bernstein and Roman Haubenstock-Ramat receive the impulse which would be very stimulating for my compositional work. (René Staar)