Peter Schindler Manus ferens munera

Composer Peter Schindler on this separate edition from Perpetuum mobile:

The saying “Manus manum lavat” or "one hand washes the other" can be traced back to the Roman philosopher and poet Seneca in the first century of the Common Era. Many centuries later, Goethe used an almost identical phrase in his poem “Wie du mir, so ich dir”. Texts nos. 1 and 3 in the Codex Buranus are the first of a group of fifty-five moral-satirical poems. “De avaritia” (On greed) would have been a suitable title for this group. The bitter wordplay of the verses drips with passionate anger, which builds up over the course of the poems to mimic the effect of heavy blows.

This piece, which concludes the first act of Perpetuum mobile, spans the creation of the world to criticism of the bitter social reality of money laundering. The lyrics articulate and criticize the fact that money and status are seen as synonymous with happiness and that deliberately breaking the law can therefore be held to be worthwhile. The music translates all of this into a demonic allegro poco agitato. The choir is angrily committed and comes to a dramatic climax.