N. 24 La naissance, Für Perkussion, Aerophone und Elektronik auf Festmedien

The understanding about the relationship between fire and the real and imaginary world begins approximately 50,000 BC with the indigenous people of Australia. One of the fire myths of the Aborigines is related to an inhospitable earth that is transformed to a comfortable place by a rather unsettling fire. This fire myth is the reason for the choice of instruments. They were all derived from traditional instruments of the Aborigines, above all in total 29 didgeridoos (from C1 to E3). The semantic context of fire is antagonistic: on the one hand, it stands for renewal, warmth, light and cleansing. On the other hand, it stands for destruction and the cause of death. In art history, the fire has gained utmost importance through Otto Piene and Zero, but also Yves Klein. Piene’s smoke and fire paintings may be understood as part of a complex that aims at making immaterial light tangible. Klein focuses on the destructive force of fire in his public art campaigns and extensively transforms the surfaces of canvas by means of flamethrowers. Two of their fire works form the starting point of the third movement of the work, they are integrated into the spectrum. Thematically, this piece narrates this semantic context of fire, originating from raw fire, through the fire myth, to the destructive power of fire, its creative force and of fire eventually becoming light. However, La naissance de la lumière à partir de l’esprit du feu is not only that – a thematic piece of electroacoustic music. It becomes a total artwork by interweaving it with a choreographic piece and a light work – both also completely notated works.

Instruments

Audio software of free choice (for the realisation of audio processing and sound synthesis techniques), 4 omnidirectional microphones, 2 cardioid microphones, 4.1 loudspeakers (see illustration for the disposal of the speakers), 1 big canvas, fixatives, oil drying agents, varnishes and pigments, 5 big branches of free choice, 1 human body (gender irrelevant), 9 different bull roarers from 15-60 cm Eucalyptus leaves (or similar), 3 self-made wooden rattles of different type with various fillings, 2 clave pairs of different type, 2 clapstick pairs of different type, 1 self-built pair of wooden sticks to produce sound on: 1 piece of wood, 1 stone, sand, 1 piece of metal, earth, 1 piece of bamboo, 3 güiros of different type with corresponding mallets, 29 didgeridoos [C1-E3] (Dg.), high voltage installation