Warp Works and 20th Century Masters goes to Berlin
January 11, 2005
March 4th. Berlin.
MaerzMusik ? Festival for Contemporary Music (opening show)
WARPWORKS AND 20TH CENTURY MASTERS
(Warp Program 1 with Mira Calix & the insects)
venue: Haus der Berliner Festspiele, Schaperstra?e 24, 10719 Berlin
Date tickets will go on sale: 24.1.2005
Box office telephone (incl country code): 0049/30/25489-0 or -100
Website: www.maerzmusik.de / www.berlinerfestspiele.de
tickets online : www.maerzmusik.de
Ticket prices: ? 20 / ? 14 / ?10
Full Programme:
Gy?rgy Ligeti Po?me Symphonique for 100 metronomes
Conlon Nancarrow / arr Yvar Mikhashoff Study No 7
John Cage Sonatas 1&2 (Sonatas&Interludes for prepared piano)
Boards of Canada / Arr David Horne Pete standing alone
John Cage Sonatas 5&6 (Sonatas&Interludes for prepared piano)
Mira Calix Nunu (unconducted, unscored improvisation)
Aphex Twin / arr David Horne afx237 v.7
Karlheinz Stockhausen, Spiral saxophones, ShortWave radio, live electronics
30 minute film interval
Charles Ives The Unanswered Question
John Cage Sonata 12 (Sonatas & Interludes for prepared piano)
Gy?rgy Ligeti Chamber Concerto
Squarepusher / arr Morgan Hayes Port Rhombus
Squarepusher / arr David Horne The Tide
There will also be an afterparty featuring:
Chris Clark live, DJ Mira Calix, N>E>D, Flat-E.
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WARP WORKS AND 20TH CENTURY MASTERS : REVIEW BY NED BECKETT
ROYAL FESTIVAL HALL
8TH MARCH 2003
As people enter the Royal Festival Hallthe sound of 100 metronomes tick through the surround sound PA creating a welcoming 3D rattle. Sound Intermedia (the electronic component of the London Sinfonietta) have constructed a midi version of Gy?rgy Ligeti's 'Po?me Symphonique' and on Screen bluespoon have synced 100 blue shards to the sound which are slowly counting down to the start of the show.
The auditorium is full and the atmosphere picks up as Glenn Max introduces all 2300 people to the opening night of the second Ether Festival and thanks them for taking part in this experiment.
The London Sinfonietta conducted by Stephan Asbury take position and as they begin to be play the audience has become totally silent. Giant hand drawn caricatures prepared by flat-e loom over the orchestra and wink at the audience from the gargantuan screen. The first performance is Colon Nancarrow's playful ten minute piece, 'Study No 7', which has been arranged by Yvar Mikhashoff. The audience react warmly and seem ready for anything.
Now the spotlight picks out Rolf Hind on the prepared piano for a captivating performance of John Cage's 'Sonatas 1 & 2' from 'Sonatas & Interludes' - the auditorium zones-out to the melodic rustles and clonks of the unique piano sounds.
It is time for the first Warp piece - David Horne's 'Disintegrations 2' interpritation of Boards Of Canada's 'Pete standing alone'. As James Tindal's beautiful kaleidoscopic work provides a backdrop, the crowd strain to take in every element of this performance. It's obvious that the London Sinfonietta team have not set out to provide a simple playback of the Warp tracks. Instead, they have challenged themselves to transform the original electronic songs into acoustic works that stand up in their own right. This stripped down arrangemet for cornet, double bass, various strings, piano and percussion, with its intricate changes and subtle melodies seems to have captured something of the original whilst building an entirely new piece.
The huge audience is then trapped in a state of intense presence for the performance of John Cage's 'Sonatas 5 & 6'.
And now it is time for the much anticipated insect collaboration piece. With only a short rehearsal time the previous day, Mira Calix, the Sound Intemedia duo and five members of the Sinfonietta switch their minds to insect mode.
A monster mosquito-eye-zoom takes place on screen courtesy of Mat Tizard and as layers of sound are brought into the mix from Mira on the front desk, live insect images dwarf the orchestra. Strung out violin chords gently build and people seem to be enjoying this Nunu experiment. More super close-up images of hand-reared flat-e locusts twist people in their seats and the Sinfonietta recede to leave only the live insects chirping and scratching. This beautiful performance triggers a huge response and will remain the highlight for many.
The applause continues as titles come up for the next performance - Aphex Twin arr. David Horne 'Disintegration No 3: afx237 v.7'. This time Horne stays closer to the original than the Boards rework, the Sinfonietta smoothly perform this complex and energetic score whilst hectic DV footage from Nick Kilroy fills the screen.
The stage empties as Simon Haram takes position for the Stockhausen piece 'Spiral' (for shortwave radio, solo saxophone and electronics). The original piece is a 20 minute monster Stockhausen journey through dissonant radio noise and effected drones. The sax becomes more and more effected until it sounds like an Autechre patch, with scapes being thrown around a 3D environment. The performance tonight is reinforced by mind bending industrial images from flat-e, later in the track the visuals crossfade to a bluespoon effect where the audio movement is perfectly tracked by shimmering light.
A 30 minute film interval gives those bursting for the toilet or a drink a chance to escape whilst most stay on to watch the following:
1) Monkey Drummer. Chris Cunningham. Music by Aphex Twin
(Thanks to The Anthony D'Offay Gallery)
2) Perpendicular / vector. Markus Wambsganss. Music By Anti Pop Consortium. info here
3) Little Numba. Daniele Lunghini. Mira Calix
(part of the creative review animation competition)
4) Blink! Simo Rouhiainen. A 2 minute strobe extraviganzer - web link
5) Gob Coit. Lynn Fox. Music by Chris Clark
(part of the creative review animation competition)
6) New Family. Bob. Music by Plaid.
Bob is Plaid's visual production unit
7) Simone. Pleix Collective. (More work from the French Pleix Collective who made Plaid's excellent Itsu video)
8) Gantz Graf. Alex Rutterford. Music By Autechre. info here
The London Sinfonietta return with the beautiful soft strings of 'The Unanswered Question' by Charles Ives. The melancholic atmosphere of this unique piece is accentuated by flat-e's shadowy figurines gracefully hovering above the orchestra and, for 6 minutes, London seems like the most peaceful place on earth!
The final John Cage piece 'Sonata 12' continues the vibe and then it's time for Gy?rgy Ligeti's 21 minute orchestral work-out, 'Chamber Concerto'.
The four movements of 'Chamber Concerto' are entitled 'Flowing,' 'Calm, Sustained,' 'Precise and Mechanical' and 'Rapid'. Each are around 5 minutes and generally grow in intensity. As the Sinfonietta expertly deal with the irregular timings, minimal effects on screen from bluespoon and Beeflix react to the sounds building to a crescendo for the final movement as violent string sounds create 20 feet high lightning streaks across the screen.
The final two Squarepusher pieces are next and everyone knows it - respect to the Sinfonietta for their programming skills!.
First is Morgan Hayes 'Port Rhombus' rework, where Tom Jenkinson's melody drenched drum and bass classic is stripped down to the bare bone and fondled gently before our eyes. The memorable Rhombus riffs twinkle through plucked violins and vibraphone as the delicate arrangement moves through the Sinfonietta's instruments and a huge alien flat-e construction towers over the stage.
The final piece is David Horne's 'Disintegrations 1: The Tide'. The original track is on the Budakhan Mindphone mini-album and can be all too easily overlooked. Not so with the Sinfonietta. This is one of their all time favourite Warp tracks and their enthusiasm to perform this piece was clear from the start. David Horne stays true to the original as deep brass sounds, percussion and erratic piano layer up to form powerful woooshes of sound that build to swamp the Festival Hall. bluespoon pick up the movement with a stark white effect that rips across the screen and builds perfectly with the music.
The hall roars and the Sinfonietta and conductor looks happy. As everyone takes their bows, mysterious images of mutant instruments built by Michael England of Meam (SKAM) fill the screen.
Visual Contribution:
flat-e
bluespoon
James Tindal
Beflix
Mat Tizard - Insect zoom man.
M. England (MEAM) - Gescom Instruments.
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