The Story of Hilti

On the occasion of the 25th anniversary of Hilti music in Schaan (Principality of Liechtenstein), Kees Vlak was commissioned to dress the history of the work in the form of a musical fairy tale. It is the story of the unique Hilti nail.

Vlak realized the technical triumph of Hilti direct assembly in five impressive musical images: In the first picture, the introduction, the percussion with its rhythmic patterns symbolizes the idea of a revolutionary technique. This idea led to the manufacture of the nail itself. The anvil in the second picture "Starting up the Technics" represents this phase. Finally, the third of the musical images is a dedication to the country of Liechtenstein and its people. For the work follows now the fourth, probably the most important picture, in which the successful spreading of the revolutionary Hilti technique around the world is musically expressed. The composer has chosen musical motifs that symbolize the locations of Hilti's works around the world in a way that is understandable to everyone. They extend from Austria, Hungary and Germany to China, Mexico and the USA. In the fifth picture, the successful Hilti nail returns to his homeland, to his "fathers". There he is received with reverence and celebrated.

Vlak's musical realization of the Hilti success story is a successful piece of programmatic music. His main theme recalls "The Great Gate of Kiev", the last movement from Modest Mussorgsky's "Pictures at an Exhibition" - and thus again emphasizes his pictoriality.