Premiere by Ensemble Recherche & SWR Experimentalstudio in Schlossbergsaal 2024
Generator - Opposite direction (2024)
for violoncello, piano and live electronics
Another way is to run in the opposite direction
Inspired by the Synthi A (a modular analog synthesizer), the idea for this piece began as an experiment to transform an acoustic instrument—the piano—into an electromechanical device. Three pickups installed beneath the piano strings and a fourth, freely movable pickup that can be played manually, are connected to a transducer placed inside the piano and to an amplifier. These four pickups capture the vibrations of the strings, resonate within the body of the piano, and transmit the resulting sounds.
Additionally, a contact microphone mounted on the bridge of a cello is connected to the same transducer inside the piano, allowing the sounds from both instruments to interact acoustically. The resulting sound material is shaped and modulated depending on how far the piano pedal is pressed down, its position, and the intensity with which it is played.
This piece also draws inspiration from Luigi Nono’s ...sofferte onde serene... for piano and magnetic tape. However, in contrast to Nono—who expanded the sound of the piano by enhancing its resonance via tape played through four speakers—this work uses only the transducers located inside the piano itself.
June 30. 2024 l Schlossbergsaal im SWR Experimentalstudio in Freiburg l 20:00
Klaus Steffes-Holländer, piano
Åsa Akerberg, violoncello
Lukas Nowok, sound direction
SWR KULTUR RADIO JetztMusik: ABO 5: Performing the Archive
Oktober 10. 2024 | 21:00
Due to copyright reasons, this is a newly produced or alternative version of the piece, not the original recording broadcast by SWR Kultur Radio. The full version will be available at a later date.
ABO 5: Performing the Archive
June 29. 2024 | 20:00
Ensemble Recherche 2024
Performing the Archive – Revisiting Musical Heritage
Performing the Archive is a multimedia project in collaboration with Ensemble Recherche and the SWR Experimental Studio, centered on critically engaging with the historical canon of German contemporary music.
Rather than preserving tradition unquestioningly, the project invites composition students from Freiburg and Basel to reinterpret and recontextualize iconic works by Stockhausen, Boulez, Ferneyhough, Rihm, and others.
The goal is not to deconstruct for its own sake, but to explore what it means to intervene, transform, and dialogue with the past. Each contribution questions the authority of the archive and reflects on how musical heritage might evolve—ethically, artistically, and politically.
This project culminated in a live performance where fragments of the past were reshaped into new artistic forms—challenging our perception of what is worth preserving and how we carry tradition into the future.
With premiere works by
Dakota Wayne, Dina Ahmadi-Jooghi, Doyoon Yoon, Errikos Sidiropoulos, Valeriya Vinogradova and Vili Polajnar
ENSEMBLE RECHERCHE
Anja Clift, flute
Eduardo Olloqui, oboe
Shizuyo Oka, clarinet
Klaus Steffes-Holländer, piano
Christian Dierstein, percussion
Melise Mellinger, violin
Sofia von Atzingen, viola
Åsa Akerberg, violoncello
Lukas Nowok, sound direction
(Source: adapted and summarized from ensemble-recherche.de)
