Cloud(iu)s

There was a little child who enthusiastically told a story … and a composer who was equally inspired by the child and its story to write these miniatures. At the premier performance of my composition “Arcus” in March 2011, when I explained how a piece about the rainbow came into being, a little girl came up to me and asked: “Thiemo, what about the man in the clouds?” I obviously had forgotten to include him, though he is – as the little girl informed me – of extreme importance in the sky: “He sits in the clouds and is responsible for the weather. He shakes rain, wind, storm or snow out of the clouds, he pushes them aside to let the sunshine through or he models them into funny figures, making people on earth smile.”

Fascinated by the girl’s ingenuous ideas I created this small composition, sitting in my study and letting my mind wander into the sky. As the man in the clouds naturally has to have a name, I decided to call him “Cloud(iu)s ... man in the clouds”. I dedicate this piece to the children of my beginner’s band, who show me again and again how wonderful and precious it is to delight in the small things in life ...

Thiemo Kraas