E-Motion

Richard BARRETT transmission (1997-99)

Daryl BUCKLEY electric guitar with live electronics

Michael WHITICKER After the Fire (1992)

Marshall McGUIRE prepared harp with scordatura

Walter FELDMANN tellement froid que (gorgiques 1) (1995/6)

Paula RAE bass flute and live electronics

Brian FERNEYHOUGH Time and Motion Study No. II (1973-76)

Friedrich GAUWERKY violoncello, ring modulated voice and live electronics

This programme explores the discrete and not so discrete differences between instrumental timbral modulation and the electronic manipulation of sound as an extension of and compositional response to instrumental possibilities. Retaining the tactile input and virtuosity of a performer, yet at times crushing that traditional role under a notational information overload, both Richard BARRETT and Brian FERNEYHOUGH compose directly with the physical body of the player. This sense of the dissected, the fragmented sound-action-body relationship is realised in quite a different way in Michael WHITICKER's After the Fire written especially for the harpist Marshall McGUIRE. The unusual and particularly reverberant acoustics and structure of the Schömerhaus allow for a mega-harp, a sound diffusion that makes more perceptible the interrelationships between feet, pedals, hands, strings and a variety of sonically transforming actions carried out with odd implements ranging from slides to wooden barbecue skewers.

Walter FELDMANN's work for bass flute and electronics also continues the theme of the body; sometimes moving and creating sound with that motion (as for instance in a choreography included within the score that demands vigorous short foot movements from the flautist who stands on a slat-covered platform with microphones placed underneath) and at other times moving and gesturing with the flute within a silence, a frustration and gesture of despair.

Richard BARRETT and Friedrich GAUWERKY, post-Ferneyhough

Performers and Production

Richard BARRETT composer, live electronics, Daryl BUCKLEY electric guitar, Walter FELDMANN composer, live electronics, Friedrich GAUWERKY violoncello, Marshall McGUIRE harp, Karl PETERMICHL tontechnik, Paula RAE flutes

Karlheinz ESSL Musikintendant des Schömer-Hauses