The New Silence aims to further specify and articulate the site of an event by manually adjusting the background noise during a performance situation, redefining the threshold of silence, thus revealing the new silence. Sounds from everyday life in the urban surroundings as well as from the building itself are examined and re-contextualized; one hears in a new way amplified refrigerators and air conditioning units, pre-recorded mechanical devices, music leaking from next door and all kinds of urban background sounds.—Johnny Chang
Right, so it's just barely still Friday here in New York City – the day simply got away. But rather than blowing off this new blog series I recklessly declared weekly, I'm sharing a recent SoundCloud post by Johnny Chang, Wandelweiser composer and violinist.
Chang's 2013 recording of Stefan Thut's composition for zithers and other objects, Two Strings and Boxes, is highly recommended. He's also on a newer Edition Wandelweiser CD of Thut's drei, 1-21, playing alongside Sam Sfirri and Jürg Frey. Chang posts on SoundCloud reasonably frequently and quite generously; over the last few months he's put up recordings of his own music, as well as pieces by Peter Ablinger and Antoine Beuger. If you're not following him already, you should be.
The post I've linked above is a good introduction to The New Silence: a trio featuring Chang, bassist Koen Nutters – also Chang's partner in the ensemble Konzert Minimal – and percussionist Morten J. Olsen. If I've deduced correctly, the performance was recorded live on March 12 at Berlin nightclub (?) O Tannenbaum.
Be careful about how high you turn up the volume in order to hear the gentle strings, that's all I'm saying. Next week, concert listings. I promise.
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