PROMPT; IMMEDIATE, NOW / VERY RESTRAINED AND CAUTIOUS was written for the opening of the group exhibition Embassy Reconstructed, curated by Åsa Stjerna, at the Nordic Embassies in Berlin, during the Transmediale festival 2013.

The work was commissioned by Elektronmusikstudion (EMS), Stockholm, with support from the Danish Arts Foundation (Statens Kunstfond) and the Swedish Embassy in Berlin.

Prompt, immediate, now / very restrained and cautious was first performed by Kammerensemble Neue Musik (Winfried Rager, Alexandre Babel, Kirstin Maria Pientka and Cosima Gerhardt), on 27th January 2013 in the Danish Embassy, Berlin.

The instrumental quartet can played amplified or purely acoustically, according to the acoustics of the performance space. The samples are relayed over a quadrophonic set-up. They are triggered by a foot-pedal; for the premiere, the foot-pedal part was linked to the clarinetist's part.

Prompt, immediate, now / very restrained and cautious is published by Edition Wilhelm Hansen.
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In 2011, the USA applied pressure on the Egyptian government to legalise the Muslim Brotherhood and give it an immediate role in a new government, meaning Egypt had to ignore its constitutional ban on office-holding by parties based on religion. After Mubarak resigned and the army took over, the West declared that the army had to hand power over to some civilian government, and had to do so at once.

U.S. Vice President Biden made a demand that the emergency law should be immediately rescinded. Ahmed Aboul Gheit, who was the Egyptian Foreign Minister at the time, responded that this was not "helpful," first of all:

"Because when you speak about prompt, immediate, now – as if you are imposing on a great country like Egypt, a great friend that has always maintained the best of relationship with the United States, you are imposing your will on him."
-- Reuters, February 9, 2011