The
heckelphone is a rare member of the oboe family prominently used by
Richard Strauss,
Frederick Delius and
Paul Hindemith. It was introduced by
Wilhelm Heckel and sons in 1904. In 1993, Waterhouse composed a work inspired by graphic artworks by
M. C. Escher which used the heckelphone:
Four Epigraphs after Escher, a
piano trio for viola and heckelphone in four movements. Waterhouse composed
Perplexities after Escher between 2022 and 2024 for the 120th anniversary of the introduction of the instrument. Heckelphone player Holger Hoos had commissioned a work for heckelphone and
strings, and Waterhouse decided to use string quartet and double bass, the latter to correspond with the low register and wide range of the wind instrument. Hoos initiated the idea to base the composition again on works by Escher, and Waterhouse chose five early
graphics, created before Escher went into three-dimensional illusions.
Perplexities after Escher was premiered in
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, where Strauss lived, on 7 June 2024 within a symposium, the 2024 , around the instrument, with expositions and lectures. It was performed by Hoos, the Graffe Quartet (Štěpán Graffe, Lukáš Bednařík, Luboš Melničák and Michal Hreňo) and Miloslav Jelínek (double bass). The work was played again in two portrait concerts with an identical program in
Munich and
Münsing around the composer's birthday in November 2024, together with arrangements of solo compositions by Beethoven and Bach, and
String Sextet op. 1. It was performed by Hoos (heckelphone),
David Frühwirth and Anna Kakutia (violin), Chialong Tsai (viola), Waterhouse (cello) and Thomas Herbst (double bass). The composition is in preparation to be published by
Schott in 2024. The duration is given as 17 minutes. == Images and music ==