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Rescued Roots of Memory music for five ensemble groups Commission of oh ton - Förderung aktueller Musik in der Provinz ca. 10 Min. composed and first performance 1995 (1) tenor recorder and bariton saxophon → Download pdf 1634 kB (2) flute and guitar → Download pdf 1489 kB (4) double bass, percussion and piano (Schl: soprano steeldr., gr. cymb, sheet metal, anvil, tubular wood drum, 2 conga, 2 bongo) → Download pdf 2404 kB (8) bass clarinet, tenorbass trombone, viola and harp → Download pdf 2823 kB (16) picc. trumpet, violin, cello, percussion and accordeon (Schl.: big dr., tam-tam, plate of steel, 2 tom-tom, darabukka) → Download pdf 3475 kB → Recording version 8 1995 Oldenburg, oh ton-Ensemble → Recording version 23 1995 Oldenburg, oh ton-Ensemble. The five ensemble groups can be played simultaneously in 31 possible versions alone, with two, three or four groups. To distinguish the versions the numbers of the groups have to be added and hung on the title. Introduction
Since the development of the computer, it has become customary to equate human memory with “storing”. My understanding of memory defies such identification. Memory is the human ability to repress the past, to relate it to the present, and to shape the future through ideas, visions and utopias. This remembrance is the most important element in understanding music - if not at all for our being human. It places us in a physically, emotionally and intellectually determined situation, which subjectively causes the most diverse memories. PerformancesBeforehand Premiere: 1995, October 30th: Kulturetage Oldenburg, oh ton workshop; → oh ton-Ensemble, version 7: (1) → Dörte Nienstedt - rec, → Christoph Hansen - sax, (+ 2) → Anne Horstmann - fl, → Peter Löning - git, (+ 4) → Petar Naydenov - db, → Norbert Krämer - perc, → Christiane Abt - pno First performance: 1995, November 12th: Altes Gymnasium Oldenburg; oh ton-Ensemble (2x): version 23: (1) Dörte Nienstedt - rec, Christoph Hansen - sax, (+ 2) Anne Horstmann - fl, Peter Löning - git, (+4) Peter Naidenov - db, Norbert Krämer - perc, Christiane Abt - pno,(+ 16) → Didier Petit - tp, → Anna McMichael - vl, → Matthias Lorenz - vc, → Axel Fries - perc, → Margit Kern - Acc; version 8: → Martin Kratzsch - clar, → Roel Smedts - tbn, → Rachel Evans - va, → Eva Pressl - hp Further performance: 1995, November 15th: Kreishaus Hildesheim; oh ton-Ensemble s.a. (version 25) 1995, November 21st: Berliner Kabarettanstalt; oh ton-Ensemble s.a. (version 7) 1995, November 30st: Kulturzentrum Peter-Friedrich-Ludwig Oldenburg; oh ton-Ensemble s.a. (version 13) 1995, December 1st: Glockenhaus Lüneburg; oh ton-Ensemble s.a. (version 29) 1996, January 27th: Sprengelmuseum Hannover; oh ton-Ensemble s.a. (version 11) 1996, May 22nd: Tonhalle Düsseldorf; → notabu-Ensemble (version 7) 2006, January 6th: Musikhochschule Köln; → Johanna Klein - rec and → Katharina Stashik - sax; (version 1) 2007, June 9th: Limoges, Frankreich; → Juliette Candela - rec and → Julien Bire - sax; (version 1) 2007, June 26th: Conservatoire Versailles, Frankreich; (Rep. of 2007, June 9th) Recording and Broadcast: 1995, November 12th: (s.a.) version 23 + 8, live recording: Deutschlandfunk Köln 1995, November 20th: broadcasting Deutschlandfunk Köln, version 23 and 8 ReviewNordwest-Zeitung from Nov. 14th, 1995, to the concert on Nov. 12th, 1995
Holes and tumbling stands
Oldenburg. The grandiose climax of their association work was experienced by the active members of “oh ton” at the Staatstheater together with hundreds of listeners. Nobody had expected such a rush to the premiere concert of the “oh ton-ensemble”. (...)
Friedemann Schmidt-Mechau's “Rescued Roots of Memory” could be performed in two different variations: on the one hand, in a more sonorous instrumentation of three groups, and on the other hand, in the more intimate sound of two groups.1 The spatial conditions of the Great House could be optimally used for the purpose of composition, to liberate roots from the polyphony of individual perspectives to form a common memory. The positioning of the individual groups on the stage, in the boxes and in the tiers allowed the attention to constantly circle and realign itself. Even in the area of the outermost pianissimo and the noisy, everything remained perfectly audible. (...) Letter to the editor regarding this review:Nordwest-Zeitung, Dec. 7th, 1995, reader's forum
Devastating for the cause of music
Review of the Oldenburg premiere concert on November 12th. |