_Refrain _is a piece of an expressive and emotional character. Its main theme represents a scream of pain or fear of someone lost "in the middle of his life" as Dante says in the Divine Comedy. It is about someone who tries to return to a peaceful life. The main, dramatic motive comes back several times, each time in a different shape, while the intermittent music remains quiet, showing a softer side of his love for Beatrice.
Refrain was commissioned by the Schlewig-Holstein Music Festival and was premiered in Kiel, Germany by Peter Jablonsky in 1993.