The title of the piece ("The Laughing Man Alphabet") refers to the last name of the contemporary German composer Helmut Lachenmann (b. 1935), whose last name, loosely translated to English, means "laughing man." The reference will not limit itself only to the title of the piece; my musical idea is to incorporate Helmut Lachenmannan's suite for piano " Ein Kinderspiel" (Child's play," a suite of seven little pieces composed in 1980) as a framework in my own composition, shaping the form as seven variations on Lachenmann's seven little piano pieces. A particular emphasis (in terms of musical references) is given to the first piece from the suite, "Hanschen Klein" (translated to English as "Little Hans"), because of its importance and placement (as an opening movement) in Lachenmann's suite.
"Hanschen Klein" is the title of a poem by German author and public school teacher Franz Wiedemann (1821-1882). It is a story about a little boy who was gone for seven years and when he comes back, he is all grown up and changed so much that only his mother recognizes and welcomes him back. The importance of this poem is significant in German culture: the text was set to a tune (the source of the tune is debated) and became a popular children's song, which was quoted at the opening of the iconic movie about the World War II, " Cross of Iron" (1977). It also seems that the reference in the Wiedemann's poem to seven years of wandering might have impacted the overall form of the Lachenmann's suite, written in seven movements, and that's why not only the titles of Lachenmann's short seven pieces are quoted in subtitles of my seven variations, but also lines from Wiedemann's poem, tracking the path a prodigal son.
The goal of incorporating Lachenmann's "Ein Kinderspiel" into my own composition is not only to reference his piano suite, but also to re-imagine the seven years of "joy and tears" of the prodigal son's journey through my seven variations for flute and piano.

The title of the piece ("The Laughing Man Alphabet") refers to the last name of the contemporary German composer Helmut Lachenmann (b. 1935), whose last name, loosely translated to English, means "laughing