German composer Maximilian Schnaus (b. 1986) composed signals (from remote territories) as an étude for pedal solo at the request of Christian Schmitt, who premiered it on the organ at Tonhalle Zurich last year. Schnaus used the opportunity to explore the limits of the instrument and aural perception, referring to the sounds he creates as “mysterious figures and signals, sometimes resembling language and other times machines.”

Fixed pitches played on the manuals create background noise altered by changes in the registration. As an étude, the piece also challenges the performer as to “limits of playability.”