European reviews here.

Tura New Music presents
Co
mp
let
eJ
oh
Scale
Variable
Series
2012
Th
e
nC
ag
eV
ari
ati
on
sI
–V
Decibel
Werner Dafeldecker
& Valerio Tricoli
Etica
III
28 March
Jo
17 April
hn
Ca
ge
’s
Wi
llia
ms
24 April
Gy
örg
Ja
yL
me
xE
xte
nd
ed
Ro
ge
rS
m
Mi alley
ti C
lla
V
ha
mb n Fo aria
tio
u
er
Co rteen ns o
nc
n
Lit
ert
tle a th
o
Pic em
e
tur
es of C
ige
Mi
sM
ac
ho
pin
Hackett Hall Gallery
Western Australian Museum
Perth Cultural Centre
www.tura.com.au
Design by Chil3
Caged animals unleashed: Decibel's John Cage odyssey - Classical Music - Limelight Magazine
HOME
ARTICLES
EVENTS
REVIEWS
MAGAZINE
BLOGS
4/16/12 9:25 PM
SEARCH
SIGN IN
REGISTER
ABC CLASSIC FM
Home / Articles / Classical Music
Caged animals unleashed: Decibel's John Cage
odyssey
By Ilario Colli on Apr 12, 2012 (4 days ago) filed under Classical Music | Comment Now
Like
Clocked Out, Jocelyn Wolfe and 19 others like this.
Tweet
Decibel undertakes the first complete performance of
Cage's colossal Variations for the composer's centenary.
On the back of a recent, successful tour to Europe, Perthbased new music ensemble Decibel this week stages a never-
Keywords
experimental, john
cage, anniversary,
centenary, 2012
Related
before-attempted complete performance of John Cage’s colossal
Variations to celebrate the centenary of the maverick
composer’s birth.
One can only imagine the dignified self -righteousness with
which a young John Cage might have looked into the eye of his
teacher, Arnold Schoenberg, and defiantly uttered the words,
Top 5 composer
anniversaries of
2012
“Then I shall dedicate my life to hitting my head against a brick
My 10 Desert Island
Discs: Kimmo
Pohjonen
harmony, Cage's career as a composer would be doomed, and
The Australian
Ballet fires up Brett
Dean'ʹs imagination
The 12 wackiest
musical instruments
Latest Articles
St Lawrence
String Quartet:
cool kids on
campus
The 13 strangest
composer deaths
in classical music
Universal Music
Group launches
Mercury Classics
Current Issue
wall.” The rebellious upstart had been told by his older
colleague that, as someone with no feel whatsoever for
pursuing one would repeatedly bring him up against
Sat Weekend Breakfast
APR
14
6:00AM
Sun Weekend Breakfast
APR
15
6:00AM
On air now:
Evenings with Bob Maynard
Listen Now to ABC Classic FM
Show Details
Just Played
Played yesterday
< 1 day ago
Played today
Playing tomorrow
SEARCH
Future dates
Browse full listings schedule
Visit ABC Classic FM website to learn
more about programs, presenters,
frequency guide and more.
unsurmountable obstacles.
It was perhaps this crucial moment that galvanised Cage and
set him on his path as a musical revolutionary. Far from being
Most Read
Latest
deterred, as any lesser mortal may have been, he went ahead
The 13 strangest composer deaths in
classical music
to forge a new future for classical music by subverting old,
Today'ʹs 12 Greatest Opera Singers
comfortable truths on the nature of the artform and calling into
question the role of the composer.
The 13 scariest pieces of classical
music
One hundred years after his birth, Cage’s ideas still boggle the
Top 5 Insults in the history of
Classical Music
mind for their intellectual breadth and limitless vision. Ever
eager to push the envelope, Cage’s tireless curiosity took him
Cellist Yo-­‐‑Yo Ma to release hip-­‐‑hop
album
on a voyage through numerous musical worlds – the prepared
Joshua Bell robbed in hotel room
piano, non -standard use of instruments, multi -media works and,
perhaps most importantly, aleatoric or chance music –
influencing generations of composers and sound artists after
Latest Comments
him.
Popular Comments
To mark Cage’s 100th birthday, Perth-based new music
ensemble Decibel are celebrating his genius with the first-ever
complete rendering of his Variations . Decibel premiered the
works at the Goethe Institut in Palermo, Sicily early this year as
April, 2012 issue
on sale now!
a part of their first European tour, impressing the audience with
In her tell-all
Limelight interview,
violinist Anne Sophie Mutter
reveals how she
became the most
powerful woman in
classical music.
Renée Fleming and
Joshua Bell on their
new albums of
programming skills. They repeated the performance last month
their use of mobile and graphic scores and innovative computer
at the Western Australian Museum in Perth, as the first
instalment of TURA New Music’s Scale Variable chamber
concert series.
The Variations are a gargantuan set of eight separate works,
each a complex world unto itself and based on distinct aleatoric
premises. Cage’s scores are by turns graphic and textual and
always painstakingly difficult to prepare, requiring meticulous
interpretative work. In Variations I, II and III, scores consist
Australian flowers
Nice. West side story its one of the
coolest play I've seen. As I
remember I've seen the play in our
school for at least 2 times.
West Side Story: Sydney Symphony
plays it cool · 8 hours ago
Australian flowers
Great track. Especially from the
Beatles, I so love every song of
them.
My Top 10 Desert Island Discs: Eric
Whitacre · 8 hours ago
melissalimelight
http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Article/296835,caged-animals-unleashed-decibels-john-cage-odyssey.aspx
Page 1 of 3
Caged animals unleashed: Decibel's John Cage odyssey - Classical Music - Limelight Magazine
4/16/12 9:25 PM
new albums of
sumptuous French
music; ABC Classic
FM's Margaret
Throsby chats with
Murray Perahia in
the pianist's London
home. Plus, the
centenary of
Kathleen Ferrier's
birth and the Top
15 Insults in
Classical Music!
entirely of points, lines and circles on plastic transparencies.
more details...
large screen as organic, graphic representations moving in real
youtube views and subscribers
time, that both performers and audience can follow as the
Nice Posting !
The performers of Variation V are instructed to use an
astronomical chart. And Variation IV, often described as the
pivotal work in the series, plays with the idea of sound
spatialisation, including the distribution of its sound sources as a
part of the score.
Key to Decibel’s take on the Variations is the realisation that
many of the works’ chance operations could be executed using
Since we only had 13 composers,
we rolled Schumann's death
(madness) and Schubert's (syphilis)
into one with Hugo Wolf, who
suffered symptoms of both.
The 13 strangest composer deaths in
classical music · 12 hours ago
frog
programming software in a way that was both musically
Schumann ? , Schubert ?
satisfying and faithful to Cage’s vision. Programming languages
The 13 strangest composer deaths in
classical music · 23 hours ago
Max/MSP and Java become the tools that enabled Cage’s
musical indications to leap from plastic transparencies onto a
pieces unfold. In this way, Cage’s inscrutable scores which, in
other performances, often need to be thoroughly annotated, can
be instantly and intuitively interpreted.
Universal Music Group launches
Mercury Classics · 1 day ago
Powered by Disqus
This distinctive approach to performance is not new to Decibel.
Last year, they premiered The Talking Board , a work coSUBSCRIBE
NOW!
composed by two of the ensemble’s members (artistic director
Cat Hope and Linsday Vickery) for which they developed the
programming since adapted for the interpretation of the star
chart in Variation V. And their innovative mobile scores are by
now an established ensemble trademark, having already
featured in numerous concerts.
Find us on Facebook
Limelight Magazine
Like
1,199 people like Limelight
Magazine.
In the short time since its inception in 2009, Decibel has quickly
made a name for itself as one of Australia’s most cutting-edge
Hermann
JocelynClaire Zane Linda
new music outfits. Its members (Hope, Vickery, Stuart James,
Malcolm Riddoch, Tristen Parr and Aaron Wyatt) are committed
to the realisation of an inclusive sonic artform that defies
classification as either sound art, music or installation. They
Zubin
Facebook
Ilariosocial
Andrew
plugin
Deborah
Julian's
were awarded last year’s AMC/APRA Art Music Inaugural
Award for Excellence in Experimental Music and, in 2010, they
released a CD of original music by Hope and Vickery entitled
Disintegration: Mutation.
On their recent tour to Europe, they played to enthusiastic
audiences in Belgium, Holland, Germany and Italy. Any sense
of Australian inferiority they could have experienced in the great
motherland of classical music was quickly shrugged off as their
talents were validated by some of the giants of the European
new music scene, including Armin Köhler, director of the
Donaueschingen festival. “He really engaged with us”, says
Decibel artistic director Cat Hope. “He loved our programming
style and found it very different from anything anyone else was
doing. It was very affirming.”
It is with cemented self -confidence, then, that Decibel returned
from Europe to perform Cage’s Variations at the WA Museum
in late March. Now, they will take the works to The Cage in Us,
a Brisbane festival on April 12–14 celebrating Cage’s life and
work. A program more appetising to the sonic adventurer in
each of us could hardly have been dreamt up: one of
Australia’s most vigorous new music ensembles playing one of
last century’s most audacious works to honour the centenary of
the American avant -garde’s greatest iconoclastic.
In all this, I suppose, we have good old Schoenberg to thank. If
he hadn’t told the cold, hard truth, bursting poor John Cage’s
bubble and, ultimately, reinforcing his resolve to go out there
and be himself – not a composer, that is, but more an inventor
of sound ideas – we might have missed out on some of the
20th century’s most exciting musical developments and, well,
we wouldn’t be here today celebrating his centenary.
http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Article/296835,caged-animals-unleashed-decibels-john-cage-odyssey.aspx
Page 2 of 3
Caged animals unleashed: Decibel's John Cage odyssey - Classical Music - Limelight Magazine
4/16/12 9:25 PM
Decibel performs the complete Cage Variations at The
Cage in Us, a festival celebrating the music and life of
John Cage, at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary
Arts in Brisbane, this Saturday April 14 at 7.30pm.
Copyright © Limelight Magazine . All rights reserved
Like
Ilario Colli, Jocelyn Wolfe
and 19 others like this.
Tweet
What are your thoughts on this article? Have your say
and leave your comments below.
To begin commenting right away, you can log in below using
Disqus or Facebook Connect. Please read our guidelines on
commenting . Offending posts will be removed and your
access may be suspended. Abusive or obscene language
will not be tolerated. The comments below do not necessarily
reflect the views or opinions of Limelight, Haymarket Media or
its employees.
Like
Showing 0 comments
Sort by oldest first
M Subscribe by email S RSS
Real-time updating is paused. (Resume)
Add New Comment
Login
Reactions
Trackback URL http://disqus.com/forums/limelightmagazine/caged_animals_unleashed_decibels_john_cage_celebration/tr
comments powered by DISQUS
Sponsored Links
Australia’s finest baroque musicians on period instruments.
Home | Articles | Events | Reviews | Magazine | FAQs | Contact | Advertise | ABC Classic FM | Newsletters |
Photo Galleries
Copyright © 2012 Haymarket Media Ltd. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast,
rewritten or redistributed in any
form without prior authorisation. Your use of this website constitutes acceptance of Haymarket Media's Privacy
Policy and Terms & Conditions.
http://www.limelightmagazine.com.au/Article/296835,caged-animals-unleashed-decibels-john-cage-odyssey.aspx
Page 3 of 3
Tribute to the master of discord | The Australian
4/23/12 7:53 AM
The Australian
Tribute to the master of discord
by: Martin Buzacott
From: The Australian
April 17, 2012 12:00AM
2 comments
American composer John Cage would have been 100 this year.
Source: Supplied
MUSIC
The Cage in Us: A Festival Celebrating the Centenary of John Cage's Birth. Judith
Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Brisbane, April 12-14.
THINK avant-garde composers, and John Cage will probably be the first to come to
mind.
The eccentric American, notorious for his 4'33" consisting entirely of silence, would have
turned 100 this year, and Brisbane's Clocked Out ensemble has honoured the occasion with a
three-day celebration of the hero of 1960s-style "happenings", where sounds are generated at
random, independent of the will of the composer.
Few works have dated as quickly as those of Cage, and the banks of old reel-to-reel tape
recorders, transistor radios and theremins still in use like Cuban cars mark him as the first
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/tribute-to-the-master-of-discord/story-e6frg8n6-1226328157422
Page 1 of 3
Tribute to the master of discord | The Australian
4/23/12 7:53 AM
20th-century composer requiring historical performance practice.
Yet Cage remains an undisputed innovator in the field of theory. His notoriety has been earned
not so much for his own music, much of which to the layman remains utter rubbish, but in his
often profound influence on subsequent, more communicative musical performers such as
Bjork, Brian Eno and anyone who has ever used telegraph wires as a backing band.
As his erstwhile teacher Arnold Schoenberg said, Cage wasn't really a composer at all but an
"inventor of genius", and the success of this always stimulating, sometimes infuriating festival
came from its focus on how those inventions are being transformed into 21st-century practice.
The highlight was Lawrence English and Scott Morrison's majestic re-creation of the score for
Cage's only film, One 11, where the sweeping electronic soundscape occasionally resembled
the middle section of Pink Floyd's Echoes.
Sweden's Kroumata Percussion played a ravishing version of Cage's Music for Carillon, using
four distanced glockenspiels to create a disembodied chiming, most closely approximated in
nature by a colony of bellbirds.
European visitors Valerio Tricoli and Werner Dafeldecker expanded Cage's Williams Mix, with
the new version sounding bigger and better than Cage's manually spliced tape of the original.
The aptly named Decibel ensemble from Perth presented all eight of Cage's Variations, which
on paper was an important overview of Cage's career, but turned into a merciless 80-minute
aural assault.
Every night began with a Cagean "circus", where instrumental music and performance pieces
occurred simultaneously, as he directed them to be, perhaps to distract from their frequent
preposterousness.
In the end, the seriousness of intention within the curatorial team led by Erik Griswold and
Vanessa Tomlinson won out, and the festival provided an intelligent contribution to the
perennial debate as to whether Cage was the musical Messiah or just a very naughty boy.
MUSIC
The Cage in Us: A Festival Celebrating the Centenary of John Cage's Birth. Judith Wright
Centre of Contemporary Arts, Brisbane, April 12-14.
Ads By Google
Attention All Expatriates
Free Savings, Pension & Investment Report for all Expats. Request Now!
www.OffshoreSavingsDesigner.com
EPIC Melbourne Apartments
New Southbank Release. From $429K Preview Now & Save Stamp Duty
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/tribute-to-the-master-of-discord/story-e6frg8n6-1226328157422
Page 2 of 3
Tribute to the master of discord | The Australian
4/23/12 7:53 AM
EpicSouthbank.com.au
Compra online e guadagna
Scopri il "Trucco" per guadagnare comprando su 200 Negozi online !
www.BuyOn.it
Have your say
Comments on this story
Wish this stuff didn't make me angry. of Brisbane. Posted at 2:01 PM April 17, 2012
Total simpleton, obviously hasn't read into Cage's works or philosophy.
The works were performed incredibly, it's a shame the reviewer wasn't able
to appreciate them beyond his brief feeling of familiarity with stoner rock.
Worthless review, basically paraphrases to 'I really disliked all of the avant
garde elements (they occasionally infuriated him even), but this work by
these ambient guys (which wasn't even a Cage piece) reminded me of Pink
Floyd and that was the clear highlight. Can't even tell if he actually
attended the concerts, it was a very rare chance for the evidently quite large
following of Cage and the American experimental tradition in Brisbane to
see many rarely performed works executed by internationally recognised
musicians and it didn't disappoint. Some of the most rewarding listening
experiences that I've had recently and I'm very grateful that something like
this was able to happen thanks to the hard work of Clocked Out, Lawrence
English, Joel Stern and others and in spite of the thinly veiled prejudices of
conservative reviewers like this who have trouble reconciling their tastes
with musical events that are more than 50 years past.
Cat Hope of Perth, Western Australia Posted at 11:37 AM April 17, 2012
Whilst i am glad this fantastic festival was reviewed, i was suprised to read
the Decibel concert described as an "merciless 80-minute aural assault".
Given that five of the eight variations presented were delicate, quiet works i feel this is rather a misrepresentation of what happened in the concert.
Read all 2 comments
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/tribute-to-the-master-of-discord/story-e6frg8n6-1226328157422
Page 3 of 3
Desire and Faded Utopia’s
New works from Australia … during the 26th ‘Days for New
Music’ series in Rottenburg, Germany.
What could possibly be ground-breaking electronic
experiments presented on Friday at the Rottenburg
Zehntscheuer, by Perth ensemble Decibel’.
THOMAS ZIEGNER
Rottenburg. Interrupted by many pauses of different lengths and long
oscillating decrescendos, Cat Hope’s ‘Longing’ is full of captivating and
expressive glissandi.
On the outer layer of what is an artfully produced work that varies in
density (produced by soft sticks on a big drum), are cello and viola
drawing grand glissandos while Cat Hope’s voice, with shining vowels,
repeats the title of the piece ‘Longing’ throughout.
The composer, flutist and director of the Decibel Ensemble Cat Hope calls
the system used in this piece ‘Automated score reading’; the display of
the graphic score via computer screen, stringing along from left to right
with simultaneous control of the tempi.
Beats, bar lines and metronome markings have been made redundant,
making a maximum variability of tempo and coherency in the five voices
become possible. This is probably ground-breaking for complex graphic
scores. For the opera ‘I Opal’ by Hans-Joachim Hespos, a score-manager
for the orchestral part was required to tediously add bar lines over whole
opera manuscript to make the work playable.
The ensemble paid homage to Percy Grainger (1882-1961), an Australian
New Music progenitor (even though he actually hardly spent much time in
Australia) by opening the concet with the 1936 piece‘Free Music No.1’.
They performed the study in glissandi on four iPhone-Theremins in a more
dynamic and much subtler way than than the version available on
YouTube.
‘The Talking Board’ performed and co-produced by Cat Hope and Decibel
member Lindsay Vickery (clarinet and programming) was a piece for 4
instruments and live-electronics. Four coloured circles, one for each
instrument, were made visible for the audience, as they wandered over a
graphical interface that consisted of 10 of Hope’s and Vickery’s collected
images that included photographs of planets, a homage to Franz Liszt,
and drawings made by the two composers.
The instrumentalists found their textural, pitch and dynamic bearings from
the directional movement and speed of the coloured circles’ motion. Soft
and aggressive, or pure or noise-like selections of sounds were affected
by the associations of the image content to the circles.
The ‘Talking’ or ‘Ouija’ board was enthusiastically applied for spirititual
sessions in the 1920’s. Spirits were supposed to give meaningful answers
through the navigating of objects on a board.
In this case the ‘only spirits were in the machinery’ (as Hope and Vickery
point out in their program notes), and were quite subservient in saving a
collective improvisation from disintegrating into randomness.
A strict logic of decomposition marked Vickery’s “Ghosts of Departed
Quantities”, a piece for bass clarinet, bass flute, piano cello and
electronics, inspired by the anti materialistic epistemologist George
Barkley. The distances between staves get smaller and smaller until, as
with a ‘devil’s ladder’, ascent is no longer possible, not unlike Gyorg
Ligeti’s piano etude ‘Escalier du Diable’.
Malcolm Riddoch (electronics) created the delicate “Variations on Electro
Acoustic Feedback”, featuring incredible and fascinating stereophonic
sound effects hitherto unknown by productively using the often feared
uncontrollable ‘Larsen acoustic feedback effect’. This was followed by an
impressive epitaph for the mental institution West Park, liquidised in the
Thatcher area, in a work of the same name written by Samuel
Dunscombe. Another work infiltrated with spooky reminiscences, creating
a fragile balance “between two states of stability” was in Julian Day’s
“Beginning to Collapse.”
The concert concluded with enthusiastic applause.
Classical performers playextreme
sounds
The six member Australian ensemble ‘Decibel’
present unusual sound constructions.
By Guenter Vogel
BIBERACH – ‘Decibel’ is name of the group that performed on Tuesday
night in the Town Hall. ‘Decibel’ may refer to their volume, yet apart from
a few exceptions, the sound level was well contained.
The program focuses on works which use playback processes as part of
the score, making use of portable cassette players, CD players, tape
decks as well as laptops.
One of the classic definitions of ‘music’ describes music as an art that
moves the soul through the organized structure of sound and allows the
perceptive mind to rise to an aesthetic realm of thought. Listening to
several of the Australian compositions, one could argue that point.
Some results of the electronic actions are pleasant to hear; yet the
performers delightfully presented cacophony as well.
The onset of “Another Noisy Lullaby” by Warren Burt is very beautiful,
with this lullaby being anything but noisy. Smooth, quiet sounds are
developing in a delicate and balanced way, producing nothing short of a
harmony within soul rather than in the music.
Tonal manufacturing as music
‘Music for Airports’ by Brian Eno can be perceived like this: the diversified
main theme becomes a hovering, iridescent ‘low volume’ kind of music.
The harmonic responsiveness of the parts creates music from free from
tonal fabrication.
“Electronic Revolution” by William Burroughs creates a hubbub create by
playback of incomprehensible syllables, producing a soundscape similar to
a big party where everyone talks and no one understands a word. The
program describes the process as ‘sampling and manipulating’ the words.
‘Prima Vista’ by Mauricio Kagel starts with beautiful singular tonal
patterns. They do not unfold however, rather they are rudely brushed
aside by diametral opposing sound rudiments; as well as a sudden painful
bleating of the bass clarinet. There is no cooperation in this work, only
performing ‘against each other.’
‘Lingua Ignota’ is composition by Decibel. Each member tries in a different
way - with the utmost effort - to avoid any ‘aesthetic ‘musical sound. It
whistles and warbles, it quacks and toots; the bass clarinet cries out like a
human.
Audience endures sirens
During the last piece, ‘Ever Present’ by Alvin Lucier, the audience was
required to listen to a siren-like, loud electronic continuous tones. There is
no harmony whatsoever here.
Altogether this was an interesting concert: new fields of resonance, and
ways to producer them; the establishment of new associations; the
otherwise never heard extreme tonal possibilities of violin, cello, bass
clarinet and flute. The dedicated audience of approximately 40 paid
tribute with a fierce round of applause.
Translation by Russya Connor.
Foto: Lisa Businovski
aus: Neue Zeitschrift für Musik 3/2012, © Schott Music, Mainz 2012
DUNKLE, FERNE SCHATTENKLÄNGE
ELEKTROAKUSTISCHE ABENTEUER: DAS AUSTRALISCHE ENSEMBLE DECIBEL
ERSTMALS AUF EUROPA-TOURNEE
von Otto Paul Burkhardt
«Far Away Ideas» – ferne
Ideen: so nennen die Musiker des australischen Ensembles Decibel ihr Programm,
das sie eigens für ihre erste Europa-Tournee konzipiert haben. Sie führte von Gent
(Belgien) über Berlin, Biberach, Rottenburg bis nach Catania und Palermo (Italien). Und fast scheint es, als ob die programmatische Auswahl ausschließlich australischer Kompositionen doch sehr subtil
mit Down-Under-Assoziationen aus europäischer Perspektive spielen sollte: Im
Konzert von Decibel etwa bei den Rottenburger Tagen für Neue Musik, präsentiert von Donaueschingen-Chef Armin
Köhler, überwiegen ruhige, statisch-flächige, stille, meditative, murmelnde, naturmystische Klänge.
■
52
Das mag auch an Percy Graingers Free
Music No. 1 (1936) für vier Theremins liegen, einer Komposition in gleitenden Tonhöhen, die den in Australien aufgewachsenen Folksong-Sammler auch als Experimentator in Erinnerung bringt und mottoartig am Beginn des Programms steht:
Die Idee einer von Tonskalen und Rhythmen befreiten Musik («beatless»), so schrieb
Grainger später, habe ihn früh schon beschäftigt – bereits zu Zeiten, da er als kleiner Junge mit elf, zwölf Jahren die sonnenbeglänzten Wellen des Albert Park Lake bei
Melbourne betrachtete (heute werden rund
um den See Formel-1-Rennen ausgetragen). Das Ensemble Decibel benutzt bei
der Aufführung nun nicht die klassischen
Theremins, wie sie 1919 von dem Russen
Leon Theremin (Lew Termen) entwickelt
worden sind, sondern zeitgemäße iPhoneTheremins. Wie auch immer: Decibel beschwört Graingers Glissando-Studie vorwiegend im Pianissimo-Bereich als naturhaft schwebende, stufenlos fließende, entmaterialisiert auf und ab gleitende, polyphon ineinander verschlungene, geisterhafte Sirenenmusik.
AKUSTISCHE UND ELEKTRONISCHE
KLÄNGE «SIDE BY SIDE»
Decibel, 2009 in Perth gegründet, gehört
zu den führenden Neue Musik-Ensembles
in Australien. 2011 ist es mit dem «Inaugural Award for Excellence in Experimental
Music» der australasiatischen Musikrechte-
PORTRÄT
Organisation APRA ausgezeichnet worden. Die Gruppe hat bereits 17 neue Werke
bei australischen Komponisten in Auftrag
gegeben. Dennoch, von einem spezifischen
Sound in der zeitgenössischen Musik des
fünften Kontinents will Cat Hope, die Leiterin des Ensembles, nicht sprechen: zu
komplex sind die globalen Vernetzungen
und Wechselwirkungen geworden. Decibel
spielt Stücke von Gruppenmitgliedern, von
australischen Komponisten wie auch Werke
des internationalen zeitgenössischen Repertoires.
Das zentrale Anliegen von Decibel, so
formuliert es das Gruppen-Manifest, ist
eine Musik, in der akustische und elektronische Instrumente gleichberechtigt nebeneinander vertreten sind – «side by side»,
wie Cat Hope sagt. Die Mitglieder bringen
Erfahrungen aus ganz verschiedenen Bereichen ein: Klassik, Videokunst, Klanginstallation, Improvisation, Elektronik, Programmierung, Noise, Rock. Ziel ist zudem
die Auflösung der Grenzen zwischen «sound
art, installation and music». Der DecibelKosmos umfasst – neben den australischen
Komponisten – Ennio Morricone ebenso
wie John Cage, Brian Eno und Mauricio
Kagel,Velvet Underground und Alvin Lucier, Laurie Anderson und William Burroughs.
Beim Konzert in Rottenburg wird das
Konzept auch visuell greifbar: Akustische
Instrumente wie Bassklarinette, Cello, Altflöte, Viola, Gitarre und Klavier sind hier
gleichwertig präsent wie elektronische,
etwa besagte iPhone-Theremins und sechs
Laptops. Decibel, bestehend aus Cat Hope,
Lindsay Vickery, Stuart James, Tristan Parr,
Malcolm Riddoch und Aaron Wyatt, begreift sich auch als Forscherteam und beschäftigt sich mit den Möglichkeiten elektronischer Partituren: The Talking Board
(2011) ist eine grafisch notierte, vom Publikum auf Video mitvollziehbare Komposition der Gruppenmitglieder Cat Hope
und Lindsay Vickery – der Titel spielt auf
das in Spiritistenkreisen beliebte «Hexenbrett» an, mit dem man Kontakt zu den
Geistern der Toten aufnehmen wollte. Erkundet werden hier nichtlineare Notationsformen – denn die Partitur, bestehend
aus Mars-Ansichten, Liszt-Fotos und Zeichnungen, kann von den Musikern aus allen
Richtungen durchquert werden: Live entsteht bei Decibel daraus eine jeweils einmalige Klangreise, die zwischen Computerspiel, assoziativer Musik und Kollektivimprovisation vermittelt.
■
Mit einer grafischen Partitur, die als
«scrolling score» mitgelesen werden kann,
arbeitet auch Cat Hopes Longing (2011) –
eine Studie, die Interaktionen von Glissandi und liegenden Klängen untersucht:
Die Realisation zeigt, wie kleine Veränderungen in einem ansonsten statischen
Sound-Umfeld zu großen Ereignissen
werden.
KLANGVERSTÄRKTE
TRANCHIERMESSER
Neben weiteren Beiträgen von EnsembleMitgliedern präsentierte Decibel in Rottenburg auch Kompositionen der zeitgenössischen australischen Musik, etwa West
Park (2011) von Samuel Dunscombe, der
mit «field recordings» von tasmanischen
Wäldern, deutschen Bahnhöfen oder US
Air Force Bases arbeitet und konzeptuell
reale, instrumentale und elektronische Klänge miteinander verschmilzt. West Park in
London war bis zur Schließung Mitte der
1990er Jahre eine der letzten großen psychiatrischen Anstalten alten Zuschnitts –
und Dunscombes Partitur spielt mit Eindrücken beim Gang durch die verlassenen
Korridore der Anstalt: Decibel fächert mit
Bassflöte, Bassklarinette und Elektronik
eine Welt subtiler, unheimlicher Atemgeräusche, Artikulationsversuche und Schattenklänge auf, die etwas erinnern, das nur
noch erahnbar ist.
Allerdings: «Far Away Ideas», ein Programm, das auf Reflexion, auf lange Klänge,
auf den «Flow» elektroakustischer Sounds
abhebt, spiegelt bei weitem nicht die ganze
Bandbreite des Decibel-Repertoires wider.
Unter dem ironischen Programm-Titel
«Pretty Things» präsentieren die Musiker
auch makabre Skurrilitäten wie Kuklinski’s
Dream von Cat Hope, eine Studie über den
Mafia-Massenmörder Richard «The Iceman» Kuklinski, in der klangverstärkte Tranchiermesser verwendet werden. Häufig
schlägt Decibel auch die Brücke zu Popund Filmmusik, covert etwa den BeatlesHit Nothing Is Real (Strawberry Fields), setzt
Brian Enos Music for Airports als Performance mit Tonband-Loops und Live-Instrumenten um und bezieht sich im neu
arrangierten Morricone-Song Ballad of
Sacco and Vanzetti auf Morricones Avantgarde-Anfänge, auf sein Interesse an Improvisation und elektronischen Klängen.
Die konzeptuelle Bandbreite von Decibel ist weiter, offener, überraschungsreicher
als die mancher europäischer Neue Musik-
«The Talking Board», 2011 – die grafisch
notierte Komposition kann vom Publikum
auf Video mitvollzogen werden
Ensembles. Und aus den Programmen lässt
sich eine gewisse thematische Vorliebe für
das Flächige, Ferne, Entlegene, Dunkle,
Geräuschhafte ablesen. Kein Wunder, dass
Cat Hope sich für niederfrequente Klänge
interessiert (auch in ihren Ensembles «Abe
Sada» und «Australian Bass Orchestra»), bei
denen Hören in körperliches Erleben umschlägt. Und kein Wunder, dass sich ein
weiteres Programm von Decibel, «A Voice
from the Dark Space», mit düsteren, stillen,
mysteriösen Landschaften beschäftigt. Doch
ebenso charakteristisch für dieses Ensemble
ist ein wissenschaftlicher Erkundungsdrang
– in Palermo führte Decibel eine komplette Neuerarbeitung der Variations I –
VIII (1958-1976) von John Cage auf, ein
ambitioniertes Projekt, bei dem Decibel
historische Analog-Geräte mit aktuellen
technischen Möglichkeiten verbindet. Die
Arbeiten hierzu sind Thema einer Studie
für die Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). Die Konzerte des
australischen Ensembles in Europa dürften
wechselseitig erhellend gewesen sein –
auch im Sinne eines interkontinentalen
Austauschs, bereichernd für das australische
Ensemble wie auch für die europäische
Neue Musik-Szene. ■
■
INFO
CD
Disintegration: Mutation, hellosQuarerecordings (2011); demnächst: Stasis Ecstatic
■
Buch
■ Cat Hope (Hg.): Decibel: Audible Designs, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) 2011
online
decibel.waapamusic.com
■
53
Schott: New Magazine for New Music 3/2012 DISTANT, DARK, SONIC SHADOWS AND ELECTROACOUSTIC ADVENTURES: THE AUSTRALIAN ENSEMBLE DECIBEL ON THEIR FIRST EUROPEAN TOUR By Otto Paul Burkhardt ‘Far Away Ideas’ is the name of the program the Australian ensemble Decibel devised especially for their first European tour. They travelled from Gent (Belgium) to Berlin, Biberach to Rottenburg (Germany), and Catania to Palermo (Italy). It almost seemed as though the selection of Australian only compositions might subtlety play with the European perception of ‘down under’. Showcased by Donaueschingen director Armin Koehler, Decibels’ concert at the ‘Rottenburger Tagen für Neue Musik’ (Rottenburg new Music Days), presents predominantly quiet, static, flat, meditative, murmuring and almost mystical sounds. Percy Grainger’s composition Free Music No. 1 (1936) for four theremins showcased their gliding pitches, and opened the program with a strong concept. It commemorates the Australian born Folksong collector as an experimentator as well. Grainger stated that from an early age the idea of a music liberated from musical scales (or pitches) and rhythm (“beatless”) occupied him; even as a little eleven year old boy staring at the sun kissed waves at Albert Park Lake near to Melbourne. (In recent times this lake has become the venue for the Formula 1 Racing in Australia). Decibel presented not only classic Theremin sounds, as developed by the Russian Leon Theremin, but using a more recent development, the iPad-­‐Theremin. Decibel evokes Grainger’s glissandi-­‐study as a naturally floating, continuously gliding, dematerialized, polyphonically intertwined, spectral song of sirens. ACOUSTIC AND ELECTRONIC INSTRUMENTS “SIDE BY SIDE” Decibel, founded in 2009, is one of the leading new music ensembles in Australia. In 2011 APRA (the Australaisan Society for Performing Rights) awarded them the prestigious Inaugural Award for Excellence in Experimental Music. So far the group has commissioned 17 new works by Australian composers. Nevertheless, Cat Hope, the director of the ensemble, dismisses the notion of a specific ‘fifth continent sound’ in contemporary music, as global networks and musical interdependency create complex associations. Decibel repertoire includes compositions by group members and other Australian composers, as well as international contemporary music. Expressed within the group's manifesto, Decibel’s central concern is a music that equally represents acoustic and electronic instruments alongside one another -­‐ "side by side", says Cat Hope. The members combine their experience from a variety of domains: classical music, video art, sound-­‐installation, improvisation, electronics, programming, noise, and rock. The aim is furthermore dissolve boundaries between "sound art, installation and music." The Decibel cosmos includes, in addition to the Australian composers, Ennio Morricone, John Cage, Mauricio Kagel, Brian Eno, the Velvet Underground, Alvin Lucier, Laurie Anderson and William Burroughs. The concert in Rottenburg made their concept visually tangible: the acoustic instruments such as bass clarinet, cello, alto flute, viola, guitar and piano are as equally present as the electronic instruments, such as the iPad-­‐Theremins and six laptops. Decibel, consisting of Cat Hope, Lindsay Vickery, Stuart James, Tristan Parr, Malcolm Riddoch and Aaron Wyatt, see themselves as research team, engaged with the possibilities of electronic scores. In The Talking Board (2011) – the audience can follow the graphical composition (by the group members Cat Hope and Lindsay Vickery) on a video screen. Its title refers back to the “Talking “ or Ouija” board, used in applied in Spiritual circles to make contact with spirits of the dead. The non linear notation -­‐ the score actually consists of images of Mars, photos of Liszt and drawings-­‐ can be crossed by the musicians in all directions: during a live performance Decibel creates a one-­‐time musical journey that mediates between computer-­‐games, associative music and collective improvisation. Cat Hope’s Longing (2011) also works with a graphic score, which is read as a "scrolling score". It is a study of the interaction between glissandi and drone: the realization demonstrates how small changes in an otherwise static sound environment can transform into large events. SONICALLY ENHANCED CARVING KNIVES In addition to contributions by the ensemble members, Decibel, presented other contemporary compositions of Australian music for their concert in Rottenburg; an example being Samuel Dunscombe’s West Park (2011). He mainly works with "field recordings" (of Tasmanian forests, German train stations or U.S. Air Force bases) and fuses sounds conceptually, instrumentally and electronically. West Park was one of the last large, old style psychiatric institutions in London, until its closure in the mid-­‐1990s. Dunscombe’s composition plays with the impressions of walking through the deserted corridors of the institution. With bass flute, bass clarinet and electronics, Decibel evokes a world of subtle, eerie breaths, noises, trials of articulation and sonic shadows, reminding of how some things can be only vaguely remembered. Although the program "Far Away Ideas" concentrates on introspective long sounds and the "flow" of electro-­‐acoustic sounds, it is just one aspect of Decibel’s spectrum. Under other programs, such as the ironically titled "Pretty Things" the musicians present macabre oddities, such as Kuklinski's Dream by Cat Hope. A study of the Mafia mass murderer Richard "The Ice-­‐Man" Kuklinski, using amplified carving knifes. Decibel sometimes crosses into pop and film music, performing Lucier’s cover of the Beatles hit in Nothing Is Real (Strawberry Fields) and performing Brian Eno's Music for Airports with tape loops and live instruments. Morricone’s newly arranged Ballad of Sacco and Vanzetti picks up on Morricone's avant-­‐garde beginnings and his interest in improvisation and electronic sounds. The conceptual range of Decibel is broader, more open, and contains more surprises than that of some large European New Music Ensembles. Picture caption is for ‘The Talking Board', 2011 -­ graphically rendered composition, can be followed by the audience on a video screen. The programs demonstrate a certain degree of fondness for the flat, remote, distant, dark, and noise-­‐like. Cat Hope is personally interested in low-­‐frequency sounds (in her groups "Abe Sada" and "Australian Bass Orchestra"), where listening becomes a bodily experience. So it comes of no surprise, another Decibel program, "A Voice from the Dark Space," contemplates dark, silent and mysterious landscapes. Yet another characteristic of this ensemble is the desire for scientific exploration. In Palermo, Decibel showcased a complete revisioning of John Cage’s Variations I -­ to VIII (1958-­‐1976), an ambitious project in which Decibel connect historical analog devices with current technical possibilities. These works makes part of their engagement with the Western Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA). These concerts of the Australian ensemble in Europe have been mutually illuminating -­‐ in the sense of an intercontinental exchange, enriching us both, the Australian Ensemble as well as the European new music scene. INFO CD Disintegration: Mutation, hellosQuarerecordings (2011); Coming Soon: LP Stasis Ecstatic, Heartless Robot Productions (2012) Book Cat Hope (Ed.): Decibel: Audible Designs, Perth Institute of Contemporary Arts (PICA) 2011. online decibel.waapamusic.com Translation by Russya Connor. Australisch ensemble Decibel met nieuwste projekt SomAcustica te gast in Logos : Oorgetuige
Skynet.be
Mijn blog
Creëer je blog
1/20/12 7:09 PM
Blog alert
Club Med Zomer: Laatste dagen aan -15%
Ictus : The Wayward
« Sophie Karthäuser zingt liederen op teksten van Verlaine in de Munt | Homepage | Tegendraadse blues van Harry
Partch door Ictus in Gent »
14-01-12
Zefiro Torna & Brody
Neuenschwander : Shadows
Australisch ensemble Decibel met nieuwste projekt SomAcustica te gast in
Logos
Do 19/01 in de
Handelsbeurs, Gent
Concerten deze week : van ma
16 t.e.m. zo 22/01/2012
Sophie Karthäuser &
Cédric Tiberghien :
Mélodies d'après
Verlaine
DECIBEL :
SomAcustica
Josse De Pauw & LOD
: Die Siel Van Die Mier
Brody Neuenschwander
& Zefiro Torna :
Shadows
Ictus : The Wayward
Gradus ad Parnassum :
Dagmar Robben, Elias
Mestdagh, Tina Jacobs
& Hélène Termonia
Emanon : Rota, Nuyts
Brahms
DECIBEL is een Australisch ensemble dat de effekten van klank op het
menselijk lichaam bestudeert. Met SomAcustica brengen ze een
opwindende set die deels performance, deels uitvoering en deels
research bevat. Je ziet hen aan de slag met werk van Warren Burt,
William Seward Burroughs, Mauricio Kagel, Brian Eno en Alvin
Lucier.
DECIBEL is een heterogeen ensemble voor experimentele muziek uit
Perth (West-Australië). De groep telt zes leden die allen zowel musici,
onderzoekers als uitvoerders zijn. Hun gemeenschappelijke 'core
business' is het uitpluizen van effekten van georganiseerd geluid en
akoestische fenomenen op het menselijk wezen. Met Tape it!, een van hun eerste projekten als
collektief, reisden ze al hun thuiscontinent af, nu trekken ze hun geografisch kader open met
een toernee door West-Europa en hun daarbijhorende nieuwste produktie, SomAcoustica.
email
Poort, Leuven
Josse De Pauw & LOD : Die Siel
Van Die Mier
DECIBEL schrikt er niet voor terug om ook iconen uit verschillende muzikale strekkingen door hun
mangel te halen. Zo mag je je op dit concert aan een setlist verwachten waarin de 'ernstige
muziek' van Mauricio Kagel en Alvin Lucier gesupplementeerd wordt door de 'Gebrauchsmusik'
van Brian Eno. Van Logos-sympathisant Warren Burt krijgen we dan weer een speels iPhone-stuk
en zelfs The Biggest Literary Outlaw, William Burroughs, komt aan het woord met diens
verstorende, ongrijpbare 'Electronic Revolution'.
'Electronic Revolution' is een essay dat Burroughs schreef in 1970, na zijn doorbraak met Naked
Lunch en The NOVA Trilogy en bevat - weliswaar nog in rudimentaire vorm- de belangrijkste
thema's die zijn oeuvre de decennia daarop zouden kenmerken: taal als een injectie van
buitenaards leven dat de menselijke communikatie overhoop gooit, de ongecontroleerde
diktatuur van nieuws, pers en politieke demagogie en de onderwerping van de wil van het
individu aan de vrije interpretatie van woorden, symbolen en beelden. 'Electronic Revolution'
oefende een sterke invloed uit op experimentele progrockers uit de jaren 70. Met name Richard
H. Kirk van Cabaret Voltaire betitelde het als "a handbook of how to use tape recorders in a
crowd … to promote a sense of unease or unrest by playback of riot noises cut in with random
recordings of the crowd itself."
DECIBEL is samengesteld door volgende zes knappe koppen: Cat Hope (artistiek leider, fluit &
electronics), Lindsay Vickery (rietinstrumenten, programmeur, electronics), Stuart James
(piano, perkussie, programmeur & electronics), Malcolm Riddoch (gitaar, netwerk & electronics),
Tristan Parr (cello) en Aaron Wyatt (viool & altviool).
Nieuwsbrief
Do 19/01 in de Romaanse
Do 19/01 in het NT Gent ma 23/01 in
Cultuurcentrum Kortrijk
Recente berichten
Tegendraadse blues van
Harry Partch door
Ictus...
Australisch ensemble
Decibel met nieuwste...
Sophie Karthäuser zingt
liederen op teksten
van...
Blazers van
Schrijf u in
Uitschrijven
Stuur
Klassiek Centraal
Tijd en plaats van het gebeuren :
DECIBEL : SomAcustica
Dinsdag 17 januari 2012 om 20.00 u
Logos Tetraëder - Gent
Bomastraat 26-28
9000 Gent
Meer info : www.logosfoundation.org
http://www.oorgetuige.be/archive/2012/01/14/australisch-ensemble-decibel-met-nieuwste-projekt-somacustic.html
deFilharmonie brengen
Eisler, Aho...
Shadows : een
intrigerende voorstelling
over...
Radio Klara neemt voor
het eerst deSingel in...
24 uur van het podium :
Page 1 of 5
Kulturkalender Biberach
1/13/12 10:13 PM
Startseite
Tickets
Veranstaltungen
Datenschutzerklärung
Impressum
Nutzungsbedingungen
Kontakt
Veranstalterservice
Kulturkalender
zurück zur Übersicht
Veranstalter
Kulturamt
club modern
24. 01. 2012 | Stadthalle
Decibel TAPE IT
Tickets bestellen
Donnerstag, 24. Januar 2012
20:00 Uhr | Stadthalle
Decibel TAPE IT
Der Südwestrundfunk SWR veranstaltet in Zusammenarbeit mit dem club modern Biberach und präsentiert von der Schwäbischen Zeitung am Dienstag,
24. Januar 2012 um 20 Uhr in der Stadthalle Biberach ein Konzert mit dem Australischen Ensemble „Decibel“. Das Konzert wird vom SWR
aufgezeichnet und bringt Werke von Warren Burt, William Burroughs, Brian Eno, Lindsay Vickery, Cat Hope, Mauricio Kagel, Alvin Lucier sowie
eine Gemeinschaftskomposition des Ensembles zur Aufführung.
“Tape it​ ​ der Name ist das Programm. Von elektronischer Musik existiert im Grunde ein bestimmtes Klischeebild: Musik aus der Maschine - oder
schlimmer aus der Retorte. Das klingt zumeist nach steriler Laborarbeit. In Wahrheit ist die elektronische Musik aber vielgestaltiger und vielfarbiger.
Und Tonbandmusik ist eben nicht Live-Elektronik. Schließlich aber: Wer kennt sie nicht, diese kleinen elektronischen Pieper, die so manches
Kinderzimmer verschönern und den Erwachsenen nur auf die Nerven gehen. Das sind eigentlich auch Instrumente, nur eben elektronische.
Genau diesen Aspekten ist das Programm von “Tape it​ gewidmet. Es ist ein Programm, bei dem der Fokus auf Werke gerichtet ist, die PlaybackVerfahren als Teil der Partitur nutzen. Das musikalische Spiel mit Bändern wird hierbei verstanden als Umgang mit den vielfältigen Verfahren des
Playbacks: Traditionelle Tonbandgeräte kommen hier ebenso zum Einsatz wie tragbare Kassettengeräte und CD-Spieler, Tape-Decks,
Schallplattenspieler und die jüngste Generation der Playback-Technologie durch die Verwendung von Computer-Laptops zur Klangerzeugung. Alle
http://www.kulturkalender-biberach.de/
Page 1 of 2
Kulturkalender Biberach
1/13/12 10:13 PM
Playback-Klänge wurden entweder durch das Ensemble selbst aufgenommen oder werden in bestimmten Einzelfällen in Echtzeit produziert. Das
Playback wird dabei in jedem Stück als einzigartiges, den akustischen Raum gestaltendes Instrument eingesetzt, das sowohl die Spielsituation als auch
die Aufführungsvoraussetzungen bestimmt. “Tape It​ versucht die verschiedenen Möglichkeiten hörbar zu machen, wie das Playback in eine Komposition
integriert werden kann.
Die aus,- und aufführende Gruppe Decibel ist ein junges Ensemble, das sich der Aufführung von Kammermusik widmet, die elektronische und
akustische Instrumente miteinander verbindet. Die Kernidee von Decibel ist es dabei, das elektronische Playback-Verfahren als ein eigenständiges
Instrument zu verstehen und einzusetzen, so dass es seine eigene akustische Präsenz, Qualität und Gewichtung besitzt ​ Kategorien die gemeinhin nur auf
akustische Instrumente angewandt werden. Decibel setzt sich dafür ein, das reichhaltige, aber bislang vernachlässigte Repertoire zu entdecken, das
elektronische und akustische Instrumente miteinander verbindet, in dem dabei originalgetreue Wiedergaben der ursprünglichen Technologie ebenso
eingesetzt werden wie auch gegenwärtige Interpretationen, was ein “elektronisches Instrument​ sein könnte. Es handelt sich dabei um ein höchst delikates
Verfahren, denn: neue Technologien sind nicht immer und unbedingt besser, aber sie klingen anders. Das zeigt sich allein schon bei den qualitativen
Unterschieden zwischen einem Tonband, einer digitalen Aufnahme oder einem Playback von der CD. Auf der anderen Seite vereinfachen neue
Technologien die Anwendungen und Einsatzmöglichkeiten elektronischer Instrumente. Decibel engagiert sich dabei sowohl für das Werk australischer
als auch internationaler Komponisten, die für dieses Repertoire gearbeitet haben.
Programm:
Warren Burt: Another Noisey Lullaby (2009)
für vier Instrumente und Ghetto-Blasters
William Burroughs: Electronic Revolution (1970)
für zwei Laptops und Plattenspieler
Cat Hope: In the Cut (2009)
für Bassklarinette, Bassgitarre, Plattenspieler, Cello und Elektronik
Mauricio Kagel: Prima Vista (1972/74)
für zwei Tapedecks und vier Musiker
Brian Eno: Music for Airports 1/1 (1978)
für Altflöte, Altsaxophon, drei Tonband-Loops, Klavier und Cello
Decibel: Lingua Ignota (2011)
für vier Instrumente und elekotroakustische Rückkoppelung
Lindsay Vickery: Transit of Venus (2009)
für drei Instrumente und Elektronik
Alvin Lucier: Ever Present (2004)
für Sinuswellen Flöte, Altsaxophon und Klavier
Veranstalterservice
Melden Sie sich an oder registrieren Sie sich neu, um Ihre Veranstaltungen im Kulturkalender einzutragen.
E-Mail*
Kennwort*
Login
Registrierung
Kartenservice
Kartenservice der
Stadthalle Biberach
Theaterstr. 6
88400 Biberach an der Riß
Tickets bestellen
Öffnungszeiten
Mo geschlossen
Di - Fr 15 - 18 Uhr
Mi, Sa 10 - 12 Uhr
Kartentelefon
Wochenblatt 07351/18 99 11
SZ-Ticketbox 0751/56 91 557
http://www.kulturkalender-biberach.de/
Page 2 of 2
Kulturverein Zehntscheuer e.V. Rottenburg am Neckar
TAGE FÜR NEUE MUSIK
1/13/12 10:34 PM
2012
Neue Musik aus Australien
Decibel New Music Ensemble
Werke von Lindsay Vickery, Cat
Hope, Percy Grainger, Decibel,
Rainer Linz, Julian Day und
anderen
Neue Musik aus Lateinamerika
Ensemble Aventure
Werke von Germán Romero,
Mariano Etkin, Mesias
Maiguashca, Natalia Solomonoff,
Edgar Barroso und Rodolfo
Acoste
INFO
Neue Musik aus Australien und aus Lateinamerika
Globalisierte Welt, heile Welt? Nicht so in den Künsten. Diese suchen nach wie vor ihre
maßgeblichen Anregungen in den nationalen Quellgebieten. Die Tage für Neue Musik legen ihr
Augenmerk auf zwei der Quellgebiete: jene in Australien und in Lateinamerika.
Die Gäste, die wir dazu eingeladen haben, stammen von dort: das Ensemble Decibel New Music aus
Australien, Perth.
Das Decibel New Music Ensemble ist ein junges Ensemble, das sich der Aufführung von
http://www.kultur-rottenburg.de/rott_d/rott.html
Page 1 of 2
BERLIN - DECIBEL - Far Away Ideas: New Experimental Music From Australia - 19.1.2012 @ WABE Berlin
1/20/12 8:10 PM
Degem - Deutsche Gesellschaft für elektroakustische Musik e.V.
Sie sind hier:
Home
News
BERLIN - DECIBEL - Far Away Ideas: New Experimental Music From Australia - 19.1.2012 @ WABE Berlin
Intern
[ 05. Januar 2012 ]
BERLIN - DECIBEL - Far Away Ideas: New Experimental Music From
Australia - 19.1.2012 @ WABE Berlin
Von: "Elke Moltrecht"
Datum: 5. Januar 2012 04:15:52 GMT+08:00
Wir freuen uns, Ihnen die Deutschlandpremiere des australischen Ensembles DECIBEL aus Perth ankündigen zu können:
DECIBEL - Far Away Ideas: New Experimental Music From Australia
19.1.2012: Einlass 19 Uhr, Konzertbeginn 20 Uhr
Eintritt: 12,- €/erm. 8,- €
WABE Berlin
decibel.waapamusic.com
www.x-tract-production.de
www.wabe-berlin.de
Erstmalig spielt das australische Ensemble Decibel in Deutschland: ein Programm mit ausschließlich australischen Werken für akustische und elektronischen
Instrumenten. Der Abend in der Wabe wird gemeinsam gestaltet mit in Berlin lebenden australischen Musikern, durch eigene Kompositionen und Improvisationen.
Mit:
ENSEMBLE DECIBEL (AUS):
Cat Hope - Künstlerische Leitung, Flöte, Bass
Lindsay Vickery - Blasinstrumente, Programming, Score Players
Stuart James - Piano, Percussion, Programming
Tristan Parr - Violoncello
Malcolm Riddoch - Electronics, Networking
Aaron Wyatt - Violine, Viola
THOMAS MEADOWCROFT – Orgel, Revox
STEVE HEATHER + TONY BUCK – Schlagzeug
BORIS HAUF – Syntheziser
Kompositionen von PERCY GRAINGER, LINDSAY VICKERY, CAT HOPE, MALCOLM RIDDOCH, STUART JAMES und JULIAN DAY Kompositionen und
Improvisationen von THOMAS MEADOWCROFT, STEVE HEATHER, TONY BUCK und BORIS HAUF
In Kooperation mit x-tract-production/Elke Moltrecht
Mit freundlicher Unterstützung durch Tura New Music und Edith Cowan University.
Herzlich grüßend
Elke Moltrecht
x-tract-production.de
Elsa-Brändström-Str. 1
13189 Berlin
Tel. 030 505 93 400
www.x-tract-production.de
http://www.degem.de/news/berlin-decibel-far-away-ideas-new-experimental-music-from-australia-1912012-wabe-berlin.html
Page 1 of 2
CONTEMPORARY SOUNDS 2012
CURVA
MINORE
CONCERTI
27 GENNAIO TIM HODGKINSON EXPERIENCE 1 ATELIER MONTEVERGINI
28 GENNAIO TIM HODGKINSON EXPERIENCE 2 ATELIER MONTEVERGINI
29 GENNAIO TIM HODGKINSON EXPERIENCE 3 ATELIER MONTEVERGINI
3 FEBBRAIO IL SUONO DEI SOLI DECIBEL 1 CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
4 FEBBRAIO IL SUONO DEI SOLI DECIBEL 2 CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
9 FEBBRAIO IL SUONO DEI SOLI ULRIKE BRAND CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
10 FEBBRAIO IL SUONO DEI SOLI HÉLÈNE BRESCHAND 1 CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
11 FEBBRAIO IL SUONO DEI SOLI HÉLÈNE BRESCHAND 2 CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
16 FEBBRAIO IL SUONO DEI SOLI JOHN TILBURY 1 CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
17 FEBBRAIO IL SUONO DEI SOLI JOHN TILBURY 2 CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
24 FEBBRAIO IL SUONO DEI SOLI BADANO/FERRARI CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
25 FEBBRAIO IL SUONO DEI SOLI PAOLO EMILIO CARAPEZZA CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
1 MARZO IL SUONO DEI SOLI FLAVIO VIRZÌ CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
2 MARZO IL SUONO DEI SOLI THOLLEM MCDONAS CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
3 MARZO IL SUONO DEI SOLI MCDONAS/SFAMELI CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
10 MARZO TIPTONS SAXOPHONE QUARTET CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
17 MARZO GIOVANNI CUTELLO PREMIO PIPPO ARDINI ATELIER FORME D’ARTE
21 MARZO THOMAS LEHN PALERMO MEETING 1 CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
22 MARZO THOMAS LEHN PALERMO MEETING 2 CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
29 MARZO SUPERSAX CONTEST 1 CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
30 MARZO SUPERSAX CONTEST 2 CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
31 MARZO SUPERSAX CONTEST 3 CANTIERI CULTURALI GOETHE-INSTITUT
venerdì 3 febbraio
Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa, Goethe-Institut
ore 21,15 concerto
THE COMPLETE JOHN CAGE VARIATIONS
DECIBEL ENSEMBLE (Perth)
Cat Hope direttore artistico, flauti, basso elettrico
Lindsay Vickery strumenti ad ancia, programmazione
Stuart James pianoforte, strumenti a percussione
Tristan Parr violoncello
Malcolm Riddoch elettronica
Aaron Wyatt volino, viola
Silvia Giuffrè (ospite) danza
Camillo Amalfi (ospite) onde radio
Francesco Calandrino (ospite) onde radio
Simone Sfameli (ospite) onde radio
–––––Variations I (1958)
–––––Variations II (1961)
–––––Variations III (1962)
–––––Variations IV (1963)
–––––Variations V (1965)
–––––Variations VI (1966)
–––––Variations VII (1967)
–––––Variations VIII (1968)
sabato 4 febbraio
Cantieri Culturali alla Zisa, Goethe-Institut
ore 21,15 concerto
NEW EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC FROM AUSTRALIA
DECIBEL ENSEMBLE (Perth)
Cat Hope direttore artistico, flauti, basso elettrico
Lindsay Vickery strumenti ad ancia, programmazione
Stuart James pianoforte, strumenti a percussione
Tristan Parr violoncello
Malcolm Riddoch elettronica
Aaron Wyatt volino, viola
–––––Percy Grainger/ Free Music No. 1
for 4 iphone theremins (1936)
–––––Lindsay Vickery/ Ghosts of Departed Quantities (2011)
per clarinetto basso, flauto basso, violoncello, elettronica
–––––Samuel Dunscombe/ West Park (2011)
per flauto basso, clarinetto basso, elettronica
–––––Lindsay Vickery/ Cat Hope The Talking Board (2011)
per quattro strumenti, processi elettronici e spazializazione [prima mondiale]
–––––Cat Hope/ Longing (2011)
per cinque strumenti con sustain
–––––Malcolm Riddoch/ Variations on Electroacoustic Feedback (2010)
per elettroacustica, violoncello e flauto in sol
–––––Stuart James/ Particle 1 (2011)
for 2 cimbali usurati, laptop, 2 microfoni e altoparlanti
–––––Julian Day/ Beginning to collapse (2008)
flauto in sol, clarinetto basso, violoncello, chitarra, tastiera, cimbalo e playback
100
JOHN
CAGE
Cool Perth Nights : Articles
10/10/12 10:02 PM
MAILOUT
ARTICLES
LYNDON BLUE
What do you get when you cross
cashmere with a loud hailer?
EXPERIMENTAL: GILDED AND DECIBEL ALBUM
REVIEWS
ARTICLES
October 10
Chronicles, articles, live reviews
with Lyndon Blue, Tahlia Palmer,
Amber Fresh, Christopher Isaacs
& Felicity Groom
VENUE
PROGRAMMING
Thank you Mister Tony Joe White
now for a seven piece Gong
band!
Gilded – Terrane (Hidden Shoal)
I’m no geologist, but thanks to a bit of search-engine scholarship I can now tell you
that a “terrane” is a land-mass phenomenon where a tectonic plate breaks off and
fuses with another, leaving a fault-line where the two bits of Earth-crust have
“sutured.” The metaphorical inference to be made here – that collaborators Adam
Trainer and Matt Rosner’s respective approaches/oeuvres are comparable to
tectonic plates, monolithic, timeless, and joined at last – might seem a touch selfimportant if not for a few facts. (A) Adam and Matt are well-known to be top dudes,
tirelessly honing their crafts for years with no time for chest-puffing; (B) their
approaches/oevres actually DO feel somehow monolithic and timeless, detached
from the mundanities of modern life, alluding to something more cosmic or ancient,
and © well, it’s just a darned album title isn’t it, and it would be a bit rough to draw
assumptions about the fellers’ personalities thereupon.
PUBLICITY
Yeah we've drunk Cava with that
media group - they can hold their
booze.
CONTACT
Come to us we will help you
make it happen!
For a more rigorous glimpse into the inner workings of the Trainer/Rosner collective
consciousness, cue up their debut long-player. You will be handsomely rewarded.
“Terrane” is one of the most simultaneously accessible and uncompromising
experimental records to come out of Perth – perhaps ever. The pair’s shared
penchant for slow-burn textural development, distant gestural melody and ambient
drifting is adapted and forged into a record that is remarkably concise and
consistently engaging – you might even call it muscular.
Opener “Velar” is all glassy piano, sparse percussion and ghostly bow strokes, but
immediately “String and Stone” reworks similar textures into decisive 4/4, a quiet,
sanguine momentum – dance music for sunbeams. “Tyne,” similarly, relies on
repetition, and nods towards Trainer’s pop and post-rock roots. Other tracks – like
“Road Movie,” “Straight Crest,” and “Moth Food,” allow more for these textures to
float, unbridled by tempo, foregrounding the freeform interplay of campfire crackle
and dawntime drone. Yet never does the record drag; my indie-pop-adoring
http://www.coolperthnights.com/articles/music%20writer/489
Page 1 of 2
Cool Perth Nights : Articles
10/10/12 10:02 PM
teenage sister likes it; no less is it bound to please the most avid aficionados of
experimental soundscaping. Gilded have achieved that special alchemy –
transcending “genre” with a record that will appeal to many, sacrificing none of its
unique, esoteric quality in the process.
DECIBEL – Stasis Ecstatic (Heartless Robot)
Holding Decibel’s (very beautifully packaged) new gatefold LP in your hands, you’re
struck with an inevitable question. How does a group like Decibel – whose work
deals so much with experimental engagement with space, real-world acoustics,
audiovisual interaction and replicating/subverting traditional performance protocol –
condense itself into a standalone sound-document, let alone good old-fashioned
vinyl? (Okay, it’s a long-winded question, but it’s still inevitable). The answer lies in
having the maturity to fully accept the limitations of the medium, and the artistry to
work deftly within them.
Statis Ecstatic’s title lays bare its preoccupations. This is not a record about moving
towards a destination; rather rejoicing in stillness and prolonged
experience/exploration. Nor are we talking about the mantric, somehow sexual
(getting Freudian here) elation that can accompany fiercely repetitive “aimless”
music (the “motorik” beat, the hefty droning of doom metal, the relentless pulse of
house beats). No – the ecstasy here is more subtle, mysterious, phantasmic – but
it’s a sort of joy nonetheless. While it might rightly called a “challenging” listen, the
strange adventures within Statis Ecstatic are by no means a chore to experience.
Rather than try to encapsulate the very eclectic, cross-disciplinary and often sitespecific nature of their performances, Decibel have wisely forged an album that is
both focused and atmospheric. Yes, the pieces herein do operate at academic and
intellectual levels, employing experimental technologies, innovative scoring styles
and extended techniques. But importantly, they are mood-inducing and aurally
enticing too. Pervading these soundscapes is the sense of something ghostly and
just out-of-sight, like the inexplicable presence felt in a haunted house (indeed,
Linsday Vickery’s “Ghosts of Departed Quantities” readily alludes to sonic specters).
Drones, strings, woodwind, feedback, cymbals, electronics, vocals and even the
odd spy-rock guitar mingle in an outer-space void of cavernous reverb to produce
an hour of sound that is as seductive as it is unsettling. The record’s intriguing
conclusion is performed by Stuart James on a sound-invention by Dwellingupdweller Alan Lamb called “The Infinity Machine.” Using wires and magnets, the
machine provides a sonic articulation of chaos theory, and a capacity to endlessly
reconfigure strange, industrial and otherworldly sounds – until at last the record
spins around a single note for a seemingly indefinite duration. How better to end a
record about ecstatic stasis than with “infinity” – the most mysterious, sublime and
curiously static proposition of them all.
© 2012 Cool Perth Nights | Site by Papercut
http://www.coolperthnights.com/articles/music%20writer/489
Page 2 of 2