Shu Hai practices javelin

Works by Chaya CZERNOWIN performed by Ute WASSERMANN with ELISION Ensemble and the Basel Sinfonietta Mode 117 Total timing 72:48 Released 2002

Six Miniatures and a Simultaneous Song (1998) 11:30

for trio (soprano, viola, guitar) and quartet (bass flute, bass clarinet, alto saxophone, violoncello)
ELISION Ensemble, Simon HEWETT conductor
(Track 1)

Shu Hai in an orchestral Setting (2000-01)

for voice, nine recorded versions of the same voice on tape, orchestra and live electronics
Ute WASSERMANN voice (live and recorded)
Basel Sinfonietta, Johannes KALITZKE conductor
Live electronics: Experimental Studio of Heinrich Strobel Siftung SWR, André RICHARD director
(Tracks 2-5)

Shu Hai mitamen behatalet kidon (1996-97)

for solo female voice, nine versions of the same voice on tape, live electronics
Ute WASSERMANN voice (live and recorded)
Live electronics: Experimental Studio of Heinrich Strobel Siftung SWR, André RICHARD director
(Tracks 6-7)

While all the pieces on this CD are independent, the two later pieces are also re-contextualisations of elements of the 1997 piece Shu Hai mitamen behatalet kidon. One of the texts in the second movement of Shu Hai mitamen behatalet kidon (Shu Hai practices javelin) is the text `I believe that beyond these bushes I could bathe in warm cisterns' by poet Zohar EITAN.

In Shu Hai practices javelin the text does not receive undivided attention; rather, it is used only in parts braided with two other poems and subverted through speech modulation. In Six Miniatures and a Simultaneous Song, the trio part is an interpretation of this poem. The poem is the only text, and is heard in its entirety, without alterations.

Shu Hai in an orchestral Setting takes the second movement of Shu Hai practices javelin, and places it in an orchestral context. The piece is by no means an orchestration of variation on the latter, but is a stark re-contextualisation, which transforms the vocal piece into a completely different arena, where it is allowed to discover radically different meanings and overtones.

Performers and Production

ELISION Ensemble: Deborah KAYSER soprano, Ute WASSERMANN mezzo-soprano, Erkki VELTHEIM viola, Geoffrey MORRIS guitar, Paula RAE bass flute, Brian CATCHLOVE bass clarinet, Timothy O'DWYER alto saxophone, John TOOBY violocello, Simon HEWETT conductor. Basel Sinfonietta, Johannes KALITZKE conductor.

Track 1: Chaya CZERNOWIN and Daryl BUCKLEY producers. Jim ATKINS and Michael HEWES recoding engineers, Jim ATKINS editing. Tracks 2-7: Michael ACKER, Thomas HOMMEL, Joachim HASS, Alan HILARIO, Roland BREITENFELD, Michael ACKER, Andreas WERNER recording and sound engineers, Chris MERCER and Joe KUCERA additional editing. Disc: Chaya CZERNOWIN producer, Brian BRANDT executive producer, Steve PUNTOLILLO digital mastering.

Track 1 was recorded at the Judith Wright Centre of Contemporary Arts, Brisbane, Australia (2002). Tracks 2-5 were recorded live at the Dampfcentrale, Bern, Switzerland during the Bienalle Bern 2001. Tracks 6-7 were recorded at the Experimental Studio of Heinrich Strobel Siftung SWR, Germany, 1999.