<p>The starting point for the composition of my <em>String Quartet No. 5</em> was the attempt to combine individual events with one another so densely that they blended into a unified totality, in which the individual contribution of each single instrument was dissolved. But very soon during the process of composition I began to develop a desire to take this homogenous sound apart again, by separating the instruments spatially. (I had already tried out this separation in my <em>String Quartet No. 3</em>, although in this case for reasons of musical communication – as the entire piece is played in total darkness.)</p><p>Similar material can be heard from different spatial positions.</p><p>The listeners find themselves inside the sound: inside overtone chords, which in some cases are created merely by the position of the bow on open strings; inside intentionally composed beat phenomena, of vibrating resonances and virtuoso passage work. </p><p><em>Georg Friedrich Haas.</em><br /></p>