CS: What has been inspiring you lately?
EH: Recently I visited Épicentre, territoire de l’écoute (Epicentre, territory of listening; former association Ryoanji) in Jarnages, France which was founded by percussionist Lê Quan Ninh and his wife, cellist Martine Altenburger and is nourished by ensemble]h[iatus, whose members are both excellent interpreters and outstanding improvisers. Vinko Globokar, Jennifer Walshe, Anthony Pateras and Jürg Frey f.e. have written for them and next year I will have the great opportunity to compose a new work for them. Since my visit, I am still deeply impressed by the sustainable work they do at the countryside and how they were able to build a beautiful community of “friendly experiencers”. What was most inspiring during my stay was an one-hour environmental performance they did in a private garden with woodland. The musicians were spread out in the little forest and the audience could walk around or sit while listening. The sounds of the forest and its inhabitants merged with the improvisations of the musicians. It was such a deep listening experience!
CS: Favorite musicians, artists, thinkers and why (current or general)?
EH: I don’t want to start name-dropping here….. but for a recent new composition work for ensemble and automata piano, I’m exchanging a lot now with Austrian artist Winfried Ritsch, whom I want to name, crazy guy! He developed and built the Autoklavierspieler, a robotic piano player with 88 “fingers” that can be controlled independently of each other. This device can be mounted on any conventional piano, thereby transforming it into a computerised instrument. The keys are struck by solenoids which can operate at high speed and at all dynamics. It is, of course, part of a 150-year tradition of “self-playing” pianos! These mechanical devices were controlled with the help of punched rollers. Winfried’s new machine surpasses all previous models (including the Bösendorfer “computer grand piano”), haha. He studied electrical engineering and is known for his experimental computer music and media art performances with robot ensembles like the ensemble mécanique. His artistic approaches are so different to mine – a change of perspective is unavoidable in our collaboration and lateral thinking is always very stimulating!
CS: Favorite books, etc. and why (current or general)
EH: I will always LOVE Sappho’s poetry, the English translations by Anne Carson (If Not, Winter: Fragments Of Sappho) are stunning! At last year’s CS festival in Amsterdam and Merleyn, I discovered the dutch poet Anneke Brassinga through Ig Henneman. Her poems are exuberant, of iridescent richness and our joint performance with Ig will remain in my memory forever. You can see that poetry is a staple food for me!
CS: Favorite record no one else has listened to?
EH: Nuristan: Music from Afghanistan, from the collection of Austrian composer and educator Hermann Markus Preßl. In the late sixties Preßl was teaching at the music school in Kabul. If I am not mistaken this music has been lost in the meanwhile… one of the many tragic effects of war that we are now facing again and the extent of which will be experienced by many generations to come.
CS: Dream trio/quartet/quintet with historical figures?
EH: Piano duet with Cecil Taylor, ha! Trio with Jimmy Giuffre and Pauline Oliveros, ha!
CS: Last performance you saw that expanded the way you think about your own work?
EH: At this year’s Nickelsdorfer Konfrontationen Festival I heard the trio project of John Butcher, Flo Stoffner and Chris Corsano for the first time – a musical highlight! Creative music at its best!
Above all, the balance between concrete and abstract material, the fine balance between expression and introspection and, last but not least, the interplay between the three musicians, whose language was brought in independently and consistently, was impressive! Spontaneously constructed musical forms emerged with complete ease, extended playing techniques and conventional use of the instruments complemented each other, always guided by deep listening in the here and now. The Swiss guitarist Flo Stoffner was my discovery of the evening, an exceptional musician! Check him out!
CS: Record you most wish you had played on?
EH: Pauline Oliveros, Stuart Dempster, Panaiotis – Deep Listening (1989 New Albion Records). Can you imagine the grand piano being transported into the underground cistern (a water tank in Washington State) and how the reverb might blur the instrument’s response and even its timbre?
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Enjoy Elisabeth’s Artist Profile at the Soundstream!