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De Rerum Natura \/ Dance of the Elements \u00a0| <\/strong>Merzouga<\/strong><\/a> <\/p>\n On the Nature of Things<\/strong> <\/p>\n Lucretius believes that, while everything in the universe is finite, the smallest elements (\u201cThe First Beginnings of Things\u201d) themselves are eternal \u2013 moving through the void they collide, create forms and dissolve, just to collide again in order to create new forms. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n For Lucretius life is a beautiful chance-driven Dance of the Elements. His ideas, popular and highly controversial in Roman intellectual circles, were soon to be banned and eventually forgotten during the rise of Christianity. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The poem was by chance rediscovered in the 15th century by the famous humanist Poggio Bracciolini (1380-1459), most likely in the scriptorium of a monastery in Fulda, Germany. During the renaissance it eventually became a foundation stone of modern western philosophy and natural sciences. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Translating the Book into Sound<\/strong> <\/p>\n The listener embarks on a journey in which a universe of sound unfolds. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Smallest sonic elements float through space, dark and chaotic, merge to create concrete forms, transform into different consistencies, from water to wind, from stone to dust, steadily in motion in a constant process of becoming and dissolving. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Late in the piece the sounds of mammals and humans arrive, blurring again into a palimpsest-like structure when the circle is closing. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n We used field-recordings of nature, as an analogue for the \u201cconcrete forms\u201d that are created by the colliding elements, but also concrete musical structures: fragments of melodies, tonalities, and rhythmic patterns in contrast to the more abstract material. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Intertwined with the sound-composition we encounter fragments of Lucretius\u2019 text in English and in Latin, carefully adapted and translated by Janko, and spoken by his brother, the actor Stefko Hanushevsky. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The radio-piece consists of six chapters, transposing the structure of Lucretius\u2019 six books into the compositional structure. <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n There is no delay, no rest to interrupt the flow, we can constantly feel it, and we can see things, smell them, and perceive their sound. \u2013 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Excerpts:<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MP3<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MP3<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n MP3<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1 Track (38\u203222\u2033) <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Credits<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Merzouga is: <\/p>\n Artwork: U9 \u2013 visuelle Allianz <\/p>\n Merzouga would like to thank <\/p>\n This release was made possible by the generous support of SKE-Fonds.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dedicated to Mira & Nicolai.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a9 2015 by Janko Hanushevsky (akm\/austro mechana) and Eva Poepplein (GEMA)<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Soundscape Series by Gruenrekorder <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/a>Reviews<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n Ed Pinsent | The Sound Projector<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n In this work, the Roman poet Lucretius was attempting to explain to his readers the philosophy of the earlier (Greek) philosopher Epicurus. By modern writers and thinkers, Epicurus is now claimed as a an early \u201chumanist\u201d of sorts \u2013 he wanted to banish fear of the supernatural, free mankind from living in fear of the gods and deities that supposedly governed our lives, and to that end he started to explain how the universe came into being. I feel I\u2019m out of my depth with this, but it\u2019s something to do with particles of matter being governed by laws. To put this in a form his readers could understand, Lucretius elected to write a scientific \u201cteaching\u201d poem, structured under various headings. Although the work is fragmentary and exact authorship is unclear, De Rerum Natura survived through the ages \u2013 despite some of its ideas being eclipsed by Christianity \u2013 and enjoyed a new lease of life when Renaissance scientists started to read it and draw influence from the text.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n For the present work of sound art, Merzouga received a commission from Finnish radio and proposed this \u201cplayful attempt of a sonic translation of Lucretius\u2019 ideas\u201d. Accordingly we have a 38-minute piece using field recordings, Eva\u2019s electronics, and the prepared bass guitar of Janko, along with recits and readings from an English translation of Lucretius (voice supplied by Stefko Hanushevsky). They\u2019ve structured the piece into six chapters to match the original framework of De Rerum Natura, so that we move from Water, Stone and Dust, Waves and Wind, towards the end of the piece where we see Mammals and Men starting to arrive. A creation of the world narrative, perhaps \u2013 except the focus is very much on elements, particles of matter, and their physicality. In that context, the section \u201cA constant flow of atoms\u201d is probably something we should regard as key to our understanding. As a visual analogue to these atoms moving about \u2013 and to show the dance of the elements \u2013 we have the artworks created by U9 Visual Allianz, which were produced by attaching brushes and pens to the branches and twigs of a tree, allowing the tree to \u201cdraw\u201d on pieces of paper when agitated by the wind.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Interesting release, I like the structure (they call it a radio play), and you could read it as a companion to the famous electro-acoustic work La Creation Du Monde by Parmegiani \u2013 except Merzouga don\u2019t explicitly reference this. We\u2019re not given a great deal of the text to digest, but that\u2019s probably not the point \u2013 it\u2019s largely impressionistic and abstract, taking ideas from the text and expanding on them with sound, rather than trying to present the work of Lucretius in a comprehensive manner. <\/p>\n textura<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Available in digital and CD (500 copies) formats, De Rerum Natura \/ Dance of the Elements is a recent creation by sound artists Eva P\u00f6pplein and Janko Hanushevsky, who’ve operated as a duo since 2002. While their material slots itself comfortably enough within the electro-acoustic soundscaping genre, they bring an unusual slant to it in blending field recordings with P\u00f6pplein’s electronics and Hanushevsky’s prepared electric bass. Certainly this recent single-movement soundscape, originally created as a commissioned radio piece inspired by Lucretius’s poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things), is as unusual. The text shows him to be a kindred spirit to Presocratics Leucippus and Democtrius, atomists who contend that while forms themselves have a finite lifespan, the tiny elements from which they’re created are eternal; according to atomism, those micro-units collide to produce forms but then come apart and reassemble into others. Woven into the sound design are passages spoken in English and Latin by Stefko Hanushevsky taken from six Lucretius books.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Much as those micro-elements were said to assemble, de-assemble, and re-assemble, the sound particles in Merzouga’s piece do the same as the material advances in an uninterrupted process of becoming and dissolving. Listening to it proves immersive when the music’s lulling drift induces a trance-like response and Stefko’s hushed delivery strengthens the soothing effect. As quiet as the sound design sometimes is, there are also dynamic passages suggestive of chaos and turbulence, the duo here translating into sound the violent stages of separation and collision associated with the generation of physical entities. Field recordings of water and wind are integrated into the design, in keeping with books by Lucretius titled \u201cWater,\u201d \u201cStone and Dust,\u201d and \u201cWaves and Wind,\u201d and scurrying noises appear, again perhaps an allusion to physical activity occurring at the micro-level. At certain moments, Janko’s bass asserts itself, reminding us of his presence, but the production design is largely dominated by electronic effects ranging from shimmering to cataclysmic and field recordings rich in nature and creature (birds, dogs, roosters, people) details. The alternation between spoken and instrumental episodes makes for engrossing listening (especially when unexpected bits such as strings and bell percussion surface), as does the change between Latin and English texts. Complementing this fascinating travelogue, the release’s visual presentation is as unusual as the sound design, its artwork ink scribblings generated by tree-hanging pens and brushes that with the aid of wind made marks on paper. […] <\/p>\n \u0141ukasz Kom\u0142a | Nowamuzyka.pl<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n \u201eDe Rerum Natura \/ Dance of the Elements\u201d to prawie czterdziestominutowa kompozycja b\u0119d\u0105c\u0105 d\u017awi\u0119kow\u0105 interpretacj\u0105 \u201eO naturze rzeczy\u201d autorstwa rzymskiego filozofa i poety Lukrecjusza (ur. ok. 99 p.n.e., zm. ok. 55 p.n.e.). Epikurejska filozofia Lukrecjusza by\u0142a nieznana przez wiele stuleci i zosta\u0142a odkryta dopiero w XV w. przez sekretarza papieskiego Gianfrancesco Poggio Braccioliniego. Najprawdopodobniej w skryptorium klasztoru w Fuldzie w Niemczech. W dobie renesansu dzie\u0142o Lukrecjusza sta\u0142o si\u0119 kamieniem w\u0119gielnym wsp\u00f3\u0142czesnej zachodniej filozofii i nauk przyrodniczych. Przygl\u0105daj\u0105c si\u0119 jego my\u015blom z dzisiejszej perspektywy niekt\u00f3re pomys\u0142y filozofa s\u0105 naukowo b\u0142\u0119dne, za\u015b niekt\u00f3re wydaj\u0105 si\u0119 uderzaj\u0105co rozs\u0105dne nawet dla wsp\u00f3\u0142czesnego czytelnika. Dla Lukrecjusza \u017cycie jest pi\u0119knym ta\u0144cem \u017cywio\u0142\u00f3w (chodzi tu o zderzenia atom\u00f3w, powstawanie po\u0142\u0105cze\u0144 i z\u0142o\u017conych struktur), nap\u0119dzanym przypadkiem. Uwa\u017ca\u0142, \u017ce zachodzi ci\u0105g\u0142a zmiana: tworzenie i niszczenie.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Merzouga stworzyli soundscape, w kt\u00f3rym zderzaj\u0105 si\u0119 przer\u00f3\u017cne formy takie jak odg\u0142osy natury \/ miasta, j\u0119zyk m\u00f3wiony (fragmenty poematu Lukrecjusza wypowiedziane w j\u0119zyku angielskim i \u0142aci\u0144skim przez aktora Stefko Hanushevskyego, brata Janko), elektronika i d\u017awi\u0119ki basu, gitary czy skrzypiec. \u201eDe Rerum Natura \/ Dance of the Elements\u201d \u2013 pod\u0105\u017caj\u0105c za ideami Lukrecjusza \u2013 brzmi jak niesko\u0144czony wszech\u015bwiat o niesko\u0144czonej liczbie atom\u00f3w b\u0119d\u0105cych w ci\u0105g\u0142ym ruchu. A my \u2013 jako ludzkie pylinki \u2013 unosimy si\u0119 wewn\u0105trz tego ca\u0142ego kosmosu. W ko\u0144cu jeste\u015bmy zbudowani z tej samej materii co gwiazdy, oceany i wszystkie inne rzeczy. <\/p>\n David Murrieta Flores | a closer listen<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n We are no longer used to a mythical register of explanation, that style in which poetry reveals the potential to re-create the world, an aesthetic explanation that does not entail a fundamental separation between art and science, mind and body, logic and expression. This is why De Rerum Natura \/ Dance of the Elements is a valuable work, since it attempts (beautifully failing, as any kind of mythical enterprise in a world that has mythologized reason is destined to) to capture that particular crossing, juxtaposing the sound of a car passing by with that of the ocean\u2019s movement, or electronic bells and bass sound experiments with the voice of a child. The nature of these things is co-extensive, it is sourced from the same seed, but instead of showing it in traditional terms, Merzouga arm themselves with modernist tools to ground that suggestion in contemporary form. Thus, the spoken word bits, which are fragments of the poem read in English and in Latin, are not really explanatory introductions, but more aural pieces in the development of the 38-minute piece; they play the role of the language that never succeeds in containing the world it continually refers to.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n If Lucretius\u2019 mission is understanding, Merzouga\u2019s seems to be analogous, to provoke reasoning around the nature of the sounds that make our eardrums dance. Their interpretation of the poem pushes us, as listeners, to hear expression in a car horn, to try and understand just how the voice of a human is or is not the same as the voice of another animal \u2013 there are many examples like this throughout the album, and it is uniquely geared towards thinking in terms of sound, taking one step beyond the cadence of words and integrating it into a wider world of sonic effects. Just like the world is not a poem, it is not music either, but attempting to engage with the expressiveness of it all is not merely a way to simplify philosophical thought, it is a way to amplify its relationship to something warm, something that is always moving, something that is right in front of our eyes and yet remains unseen, that invisible dance that brings each and every one of us, like stray sounds meeting, into a vivid mixture of interwoven frequencies. <\/p>\n Uwe Br\u00e4utigam | nrwjazz<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n De Rerum Natura ist einer der wichtigsten Texte aus der Schule des griechischen Philosophen Epikur. Ein fr\u00fcher Aufkl\u00e4rer und Querdenker der Antike, f\u00fcr den die Atome die Bausteine der Natur sind, aus denen sich alles zusammensetzt. Aber es geht nicht allein um eine Kosmologie, die G\u00f6tter und Aberglauben verbannt, sondern Epikur will den Menschen von der Angst vor \u00fcberm\u00e4chtigen Wesen und dem Tod befreien. Der Mensch soll im Diesseits ein selbstbestimmtes Leben in Freude genie\u00dfen k\u00f6nnen. Diese humanistischen Grundgedanken der epikureischen Philosophie werden in De Rerum Natura in poetischer Sprache dargelegt.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Die Komposition ist eine Auftragsarbeit f\u00fcr den finnischen Rundfunk. Der Titel Dance of the Elements charakterisiert die Musik sehr genau. Die Musik beginnt mit ruhigen T\u00f6nen, die eine Assoziation mit einzelnen Atomen, die durch den Weltraum fliegen, m\u00f6glich macht. Nach Lukrez Vorstellung verdichten sich die Atome und bilden die Elemente des Universums, von den Gestirnen bis zu den Lebewesen. W\u00e4hrend dies alles der Verg\u00e4nglichkeit unterworfen ist, bleiben doch die Atome erhalten, die wieder neue Formen hervorbringen. So entwickelt sich auch die Musik, von einem ruhigen gef\u00e4lligen Beginn im Ambiente Stil, verdichten sich die Kl\u00e4nge zu immer neuen Formen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Kleine Textstellen aus De Rerum Natura werden in englischer Sprache von dem Schauspieler Stefko Hanushevsky in die Kl\u00e4nge hinein gesprochen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201eThere must be a constant flow of atoms from everything we see. Odors flow continually from certain things, just as cool air arises from the rivers, while the sun radiates heat. The spray of breaking waves erodes walls beside the sea shore.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Inspiriert von solchen Textstellen erklingen Naturger\u00e4usche von Wind und Wasser in den Klangbildern. Die H\u00f6rer*innen k\u00f6nnen sich dabei mit den philosophischen Gedanken von Lukrez verbinden und diese in Klang umgesetzt erleben. Merzouga l\u00e4sst den kosmischen Tanz der Elemente h\u00f6rbar werden. Ganz im Geiste des Aufkl\u00e4rers Lukrez wird dabei jeglicher New Age Kitsch au\u00dfen vor gelassen.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Die Soundcollage Dance of the Elements funktioniert aber auch ohne das Wissen um den Text De Rerum Natura. Die Klanglandschaften, der Tanz der Atome, sind auch ohne Hintergrundwissen ein inspirierendes Erlebnis in das sich die H\u00f6renden hineinfallen lassen k\u00f6nnen. Eine Klangcollage die von leisen T\u00f6nen, bis zu aufgew\u00fchltem Klangst\u00fcrmen, die Vielf\u00e4ltigkeit der Bewegungen der Elemente erlebbar macht. Mit Dance of the Elements schafft Merzouga eine gro\u00dfartige Klangcollage mit philosophischem Hintersinn. <\/p>\n Frans de Waard | VITAL WEEKLY<\/a><\/strong> <\/p>\n Holger Adam | testcard<\/a><\/strong> De Rerum Natura \/ Dance of the Elements \u00a0| Merzouga Sound composition by Merzouga – inspired by Lucretius\u2019 philosophical poem. Gruen 185 | Audio CD + Digital > [order] Reviews On the Nature of Things In his poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) the Roman poet\/philosopher Lucretius (c. 99 \u2013 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-16867","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16867","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16867"}],"version-history":[{"count":36,"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16867\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17851,"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/16867\/revisions\/17851"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16867"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nSound composition by Merzouga – inspired by Lucretius\u2019 philosophical poem.
\nGruen 185 | Audio CD + Digital > [order<\/a>]
\nReviews<\/a>
\nngg_shortcode_0_placeholder<\/p>\n
\nIn his poem De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things) the Roman poet\/philosopher Lucretius (c. 99 \u2013 c. 55 BCE) explores Epicurean physics and philosophy through richly poetic language and metaphors, as he presents an entire cosmology: based on the principles of atomism, Lucretius tries to explain the nature of the mind and soul, and the development of the world. While some of his ideas have been proven scientifically wrong, some of his thoughts seem strikingly reasonable even for the contemporary reader.<\/p>\n
\nWhen Soila Valkama, the ars acustica-editor of Finnish broadcaster YLEISRADIO commissioned us to produce a sound-composition, we suggested to her a playful attempt of a sonic translation of Lucretius\u2019 ideas. <\/p>\n
\nLucretius, De Rerum Natura, Book VI: 932+933<\/p>\n
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\nCD (500 copies)<\/p>\n
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\nJanko Hanushevsky (prepared electric bass) and Eva Poepplein (electronics)
\nSpeaker: Stefko Hanushevsky
\nTranslations: Janko Hanushevsky
\nEditor: Soila Valkama
\nCommissioned and produced by YLEISRADIO\/Finland.<\/p>\n
\nThe artwork was created by setting up paper in the garden and applying pens and
\nbrushes to the branches of a tree. All the traces of ink on the paper were created
\nby the wind moving the tree, thus providing all the scource-material for the album\u2019s
\nentire artwork.<\/p>\n
\nSoila Valkama & YLE, Stefko Hanushevsky, Lasse-Marc Riek & Roland Etzin,
\nLeopold Lenzgeiger, Sabine Kuechler, Markus Jarchow, Bohdan & Ewa Hanushevsky,
\nand Felix & Waltraud Poepplein for their continuous support.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.gruenrekorder.de\/Photos\/ske_aume_logo_4c.jpg\" "\\"\\""){kind=logo}
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\nGermany \/ 2018 \/ Gruen 185 \/ LC 09488 \/ GEMA \/ EAN 192562609217<\/p>\n
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\nMy Favourite Things
\nFrom 8th February 2019 we have the Merzouga team on Gruenrekorder. Eva Popplein and Janko Hanushevsky wowed the crowds with their 2013 release based on wax cylinders found in the Berlin Phonogram Archive, leaving us in no doubt as to their historical sensibilities and their thoroughness in surveying and sampling ethnic music from the early part of the 20th century. For De Rerum Natura \/ Dance of the Elements (GRUEN 185), they\u2019re drawing inspiration from a work of classical antiquity, Lucretius\u2019 epic \u201cdidactic\u201d poem De Rerum Natura (On The Nature Of Things).<\/p>\n
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\nTwo wildly contrasting releases accentuate the huge range of Gruenrekorder’s discography. On the one hand we have a single-track, thirty-eight-minute sound composition by Merzouga that merges philosophical musings by the Roman poet Titus Lucretius Caro (c. 99-55 BCE) with field recordings and instrumental sound treatments, on the other a wacky ten-inch by Kuhzunft (Dortmund-based dadaist Achim Zepezauer) featuring thirty forty-five-second tracks and based on the concept of an interactive slot machine.<\/p>\n
\nlink<\/a><\/p>\n
\nAustriacko-niemiecki duet Merzouga \u2013 Eva P\u00f6pplein (elektronika) i Janko Hanushevsky (elektronika i gitara basowa) \u2013 nie wydaje zbyt cz\u0119sto nowych p\u0142yt. Poprzedni ich album \u201e52\u00b046\u2019 North 13\u00b029\u2019 East \u2013 Music for Wax-Cylinders\u201d ukaza\u0142 si\u0119 w 2013 r. Warto wspomnie\u0107, \u017ce arty\u015bci dzia\u0142aj\u0105 pod tym szyldem od 2002 r. W oryginalny spos\u00f3b \u0142\u0105cz\u0105 nagrania terenowe z brzmieniem instrument\u00f3w i elektronik\u0105.<\/p>\n
\nlink<\/a><\/p>\n
\nDe Rerum Natura \/ Dance of the Elements begins with glissando bass tones and an electronic field of a thousand little raw, swarming blips and noises, creating what is simultaneously a vast and dense soundscape. Based upon the first-century BC poem by Lucretius, the album attempts to translate the text into an aural experience, with the Roman poet\u2019s innovative style, which turned common words into philosophical concepts or plainly invented new ones when none would suffice, aptly reflected by the mixture of field recordings, spoken word, and electronic collage. The sound of the waves crashing upon the beach is not just the sound of the sea, it is also a sign of a magnificence that has no need for gods, only a nature of which we are but an extension. As the waves clash with piercing drones and grave tones, the panorama shifts towards menace, towards the fear of said gods striking us down that Lucretius carefully dismissed as lack of understanding. That vast and dense soundscape, the poem says, is seeded in something common to us all, atoms of distinct shapes that sway and swerve, a dance at the heart of existence that connects our lives with those of phenomena we wrongly believe to be the work of deities.<\/p>\n
\nlink<\/a><\/p>\n
\nDance of the Elements ist elektronische Musik mit tiefsinnigem Hintergrund vom Duo Merzouga. Das antike philosophische Gro\u00dfgedicht De Rerum Natura (\u00dcber die Dinge der Natur) des r\u00f6mischen Dichters Lukrez (95-55 v. Chr.) ist die Inspirationsquelle von Merzouga. Das Duo besteht aus der in K\u00f6ln lebenden Elektronikmusikerin und Tonmeisterin Eva P\u00f6pplein und dem Jazzbassisten und Komponisten Janko Hanushevsky. Die beiden sind durch ihre mit vielen Preisen ausgezeichneten H\u00f6rspiele und Soundcollagen bekannt. Sie arbeiten in unterschiedlichen Bands und Projekten mit Jens D\u00fcppe, Annette Maye, Udo Moll, Lucas Niggli und anderen Musikern zusammen.<\/p>\n
\nlink<\/a><\/p>\n
\nThis is already the fourth release by Merzouga (Vital Weekly 812, 912 and 922), the duo of Eva P\u00f6pplein (computer) and Janko Hanushevsky (prepared bass guitar) and the third one for Gruenrekorder. They are a duo of improvising with electronics and so far I wasn’t blown away by their music, even when the last one seemed to be the best of the lot. Here they take a poem by Roman poet and philosopher Lucretius as their starting point. In this poem, he presents „an entire cosmology: based on the principles of atomism {…} explains the nature of the mind and sound and the development of the world. While everything in the universe is finite, the atoms themselves are eternal – they collide again in order to create new forms. Life is a beautiful chance-driven Dance of the Elements“. The poem is recited (perhaps partly?), and set to the music of sounds, instruments and processes. This is done in an intelligent and serious manner, civilized is probably a term covering it. They neatly explore everything that is at their disposal, not just what is in front of them, but also they keep in mind all the various ways using these sounds and technologies when working out how to use this in the thirty-eight-minute piece. Sometimes it goes all the way down and becomes very quiet, which sits fine with the occasional louder bits in which field recordings, hiss, bass plucking and perhaps just downright noise becomes a much louder counter setting. It moves back and forth, just like it would do with the changing of seasons, even if I don’t know if that is a source of interest here at all. Acoustic sounds are bent and shaped with computer technology, while at the same time the bass is playing in all sorts of irregular manners; it can as easily move into something that is just a straightforward bass sound or a seemingly a mere synth sound. Throughout we hear the bits and pieces of the poem, but it never stands in the way of the
\nmusic; it is never too much about the recited the text, but rather fitting the music quite nicely. Throughout I thought all of this was most enjoyable; perhaps another one up, one better as before. That’s the way to go!
\nlink<\/a><\/p>\n
\nDrau\u00dfen vor der T\u00fcr: Field-Recordings und Sound-Art von Gruenrekorder
\nGruen, gruen, gruen sind alle meine Farben \u2013 bereits zum dritten Mal in Folge eine Gruenrekorder-Kolumne in testcard. Wie immer kommt man aus dem Staunen nicht heraus, wenn man sich die Ver\u00f6ffentlichungen des Frankfurter Labels anh\u00f6rt. Unerschrocken und ohne mit der Wimper zu zucken haben sie die Ger\u00e4usche von laufenden Filmprojektoren auf Vinyl gepresst: Sounds Of The Projection Box<\/a> hei\u00dft das Album von MICHAEL LIGHTBORNE<\/a> und es dokumentiert das Rattern der Maschinen, deren Ger\u00e4usche \u00fcblicherweise nicht aus der Kabine von Filmvorf\u00fchrern hinaus dringen. Ger\u00e4usche, die vom Aussterben bedroht sind, weil Filme ja mehr und mehr digital an Lichtspielh\u00e4user \u00fcbermittelt und dort abgespielt werden. Insofern wird hier akustisches Kulturerbe archiviert, und wer die Platte auflegt, kann sich bei geschlossenen Augen in die Rolle des Filmvorf\u00fchrers imaginieren und zus\u00e4tzlich versuchen, den Tonspuren bzw. -fetzen der ablaufenden Filme ein zus\u00e4tzliches Narrativ abzuringen. \u00c4hnlich abenteuerlich auch die Aufnahmen von GREGORY B\u00dcTTNER<\/a>, der f\u00fcr Voll.Halb.Langsam.Halt<\/a> die Fahrt eines alten Dampfschiffes, eines Eisbrechers dokumentierte, bearbeitete und sein Vorgehen sowie das Ergebnis wie folgt kommentiert: \u201eI had the chance to take a trip on the ship from Rostock to Ru\u0308gen over the Baltic Sea in 2010. The body of the ship is completely built from metal, so it is a big resonant room which sounds very different on each spot which I put my contact mics on (I used two contact mics, so I could record in stereo). I walked around the ship, placing my mics on different areas of the ship and also directly on parts of the steam engine, which is still fired by coal. For the composition I only used the pure recordings without additional sound manipulations, only juxtapositions, transitions and cuts.\u201d Alles klar? Der Kahn bzw. das, was B\u00fcttner aus seinen Ger\u00e4uschen macht, kann locker mit Merzbow mithalten. Harter Stoff. Metallisch k\u00fchl, aber weniger krachend klingt auch Gasworks<\/a> von GERALD FIEBIG feat. EMERGE & CHRISTIAN Z. M\u00dcLLER<\/a>. Der Ort als Resonanzk\u00f6rper f\u00fcr Ger\u00e4usche bildet das Ausgangsmaterial f\u00fcr diese CD. Entsprechend r\u00e4umlich ist in der Tat viel von dem, was es zu h\u00f6ren gibt, organisiert: Echo und Hall spielen eine gro\u00dfe Rolle im Klangbild \u2013 aber auch eine dialekt-gef\u00e4rbte Stimme, die von der industriellen Nutzung des Geb\u00e4udes erz\u00e4hlt, kommt, erg\u00e4nzt um Ger\u00e4usche, zu Wort. So entsteht f\u00fcr das Gaswerk von Augsburg-Oberhausen ein Denkmal. Der gleicherma\u00dfen verspielte und dokumentarische Charakter der musikalischen Arbeiten verwandelt den fr\u00fchindustriellen Arbeitsalltag in eine geisterhafte Klangreise: \u201eDes gibt\u2019s heut\u2018 nimmer.\u201c Bemerkenswert. Maschinenmusik ist auch auf der Slotmachine<\/a>-10\u201c versammelt, einem Projekt von ACHIM ZEPEZAUER<\/a>, der von unterschiedlichen Musiker*innen jeweils 45 Sekunden lange Klangskizzen anfertigen lie\u00df, die in der Logik eines Spielautomaten und nach Zufallsprinzip geleichzeitig aufgerufen werden k\u00f6nnen. Realisiert ist das im Rahmen einer Online-Anwendung, die das Bedienen eines virtuellen Spielautomaten zur Erzeugung der Zufalls-Kompositionen zug\u00e4nglich macht, hier: http:\/\/slotmachine.kuhzunft.com<\/a>. Viel Spa\u00df! (Die 10\u201c dokumentiert nur einen kleinen Teil der gewisserma\u00dfen unendlichen Kombinationsm\u00f6glichkeiten.) Auch KATHARINA KLEMENT<\/a> liefert mit Peripheries<\/a>, einem akustischen Portrait der Stadt Belgrad, eine quirlig-nerv\u00f6se und herausfordernde Arbeit ab. Unter Zuhilfenahme des Stadtplans erstellte Klement eine kartographisch inspirierte Partitur. Verschiedene Lokalit\u00e4ten in der Stadt wurden aufgezeichnet und ineinander gemischt. So entsteht ein wahres Klang-Gewimmel, das beizeiten wirklich anstrengend sein kann. Ich empfehle nach Selbstversuch folgendes: Die Aufnahmen auf dem Balkon abspielen und die Balkont\u00fcre offenlassen, w\u00e4hrend man im Zimmer bleibt. So entsteht der Eindruck, drau\u00dfen sei Belgrad! Bei der Gelegenheit gebe ich gerne zu, dass mir im Zweifel die eher ruhigen Aufnahmen aus tropischen Gefilden lieber sind. F. Guyana<\/a> von MARC NAMBLARD<\/a> hilft sich vom Stress in Belgrad zu erholen. Allerlei hypnotisches Summen, Surren und Dr\u00f6hnen der Flora und Fauna von der Nordk\u00fcste S\u00fcdamerikas! Auch DAVID ROTHENBERG<\/a> hat wieder mit allerlei V\u00f6geln Musik gemacht und sich f\u00fcr Nightingale Cities<\/a> auch zus\u00e4tzliche menschliche Instrumentalist*innen dazu geholt. Die in Berlin und Helsinki angefertigten Aufnahmen geh\u00f6ren sicherlich zum zug\u00e4nglichsten Material in dieser Kolumne, die V\u00f6gel sind freundliche Wesen, die Musik ist es auch. Wer noch nie eine Gruenrekorder-Produktion geh\u00f6rt hat, kann vielleicht auf diesem Weg einen sanften Einstieg in den Katalog des Labels finden. Fr\u00fchlingsmusik. Ganz anders und noch besser: die Windharfen-Aufnahmen auf Path Of The Wind<\/a> von EISUKE YANAGISAWA<\/a>. Windharfen, gro\u00dfe Saiteninstrumente in die Brise gestellt, werden buchst\u00e4blich von der Natur gespielt und je nachdem, wo die Windharfen standen mischen sich unterschiedliche Umgebungsger\u00e4usche unter die bet\u00f6renden Kl\u00e4nge der Instrumente. Ambient Drone mit Seem\u00f6ve. Minimal Music mit Meeresrauschen. N\u00e4her an New Age Klanglandschaften waren Gruenrekorder vielleicht nie, und es schadet nicht: Absolutes Highlight! Das Meer rauscht auch auf De Rerum Natura \/ Dance of the Elements<\/a> von MERZOUGA<\/a>, die nichts geringeres als eine Komposition auf Grundlage des Lehrgedichtes von Lucretius\u2018 wagen. Soweit so ambitioniert, aber da muss man sich nicht abschrecken lassen. Musik ist immer Ausdruck von Ideen, hier eben einer dezidiert philosophischen. Und elektronische Musik eignet sich auch nicht erst seit gestern, zur Verdeutlichung, mithin Vermittlung abstrakter Vorstellungen. Und so knistert es kleinteilig, die Atome tanzen unsichtbar aus den Lautsprechern, eine Stimme fl\u00fcstert hier und da Versatzst\u00fccke in englischer und lateinischer aus dem Gedicht usw. \u2013 ein kurzeiliges, abwechslungsreiches und durchaus spannendes H\u00f6rerlebnis, das dem \u00dcberbau entsprechen mag; letztlich aber spielt es zum Genuss der Komposition keine entscheidende Rolle, w\u00fcrde ich meinen. \u00c4hnlich gelagert ist es wom\u00f6glich im Fall von The Secret Life of the Inaudible<\/a> von ANNEA LOCKWOOD und CHRISTINA KUBISCH<\/a> anzuh\u00f6ren. Die beiden Klangk\u00fcnstlerinnen haben sich Soundfiles von an sich bzw. f\u00fcr Menschen nicht h\u00f6rbaren geophysikalischen Ph\u00e4nomenen zur gegenseitigen Bearbeitung vorgelegt: elektromagnetische Wellen, Ultraschallwellen, Sonnenwinde\u2026 akustische Ereignisse also, die zun\u00e4chst technisch in eine f\u00fcr das menschliche Ohr h\u00f6rbaren Frequenzbereich \u00fcberf\u00fchrt werden m\u00fcssen und von Kubisch und Lockwood bearbeitet wurden, und die dann \u2013 wie auch immer das im Detail von Statten ging \u2013 daraus sozusagen dunkle Materie gewannen. Mich w\u00fcrde einmal interessieren, inwiefern, das geologisch-kosmische Quellenmaterial, wo es ohnehin in den h\u00f6rbaren Bereich \u00fcbersetzt und also synthetisiert werden muss, nicht auch anders, also mit weniger Aufwand, generiert werden k\u00f6nnte? Ich nehme behelfsweise an, es w\u00e4re nicht dasselbe! Wie dem auch sei, das Ergebnis fasziniert: Sunn O))) \u2013 Kindergarten dagegen. Finster dr\u00e4uende, pechschwarze Klangfl\u00e4chen. Wahrhaft infernalische Musik aus dem Reich des sonst Nichtwahrnehmbaren. Hervorragend.
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