06/03/2017

h.21 Auditorium San Fedele

Asmus Tietchens
Live

Bernard Parmegiani
La Roue Ferris (1971)
L’oeil écoute (1970)

Sound engineer: Filippo Berbenni

In collaboration with Goethe-Insititut Mailand

In the first part, two pieces by maestro Bernard Parmégiani are proposed, dated to the early 1970s: a new opportunity to deepen the acousmatic matrix of INNER_SPACES, a review created with the aim of enhancing the dimension of listening during electronic music performances in a room equipped with acusmonium, diffusion system to spatialize the sound. La Roue Ferris and L’oeil écoute represent the French composer’s most successful achievements in his intent to recreate perpetual motion not in the sense of the musical illusion of uninterrupted movement but by capturing the perpetual instant.

After the last tour of 2011, the German Asmus Tietchens, a veteran of European electronic music, born in 1947, returns to Italy, in San Fedele. From the seventies until today, the Hamburg composer has always opened his eyes and ears to musical scenarios that have emerged over the years (from Kraut-rock to industrial, from glitch to noise, from concrete bruitage to electroacoustic experiences), nevertheless managing to find in his numerous productions a personal sound and compositional perspectives, guided by a vision of rigorous and consistent musical art. Active since the 1960s, Asmus Tietchens is a specialist in the recording and manipulation of sounds, characterized by the ability to push the barriers of hearing as far forward as possible. He has released over 70 CDs for labels all over the world (Staalplaat, Multimood, line, aufabwgeen, Die Stadt, Soleilmoon, Korm Plastics, United Dairies, etc.) and has collaborated with sound artists such as Thomas Köner, Vidna Obmana, Okko Bekker, Achim Wollscheid. Over the course of 40 years his music has evolved from the first rhythmic sounds of experiments with tape recorders, tape loops, drum machines, synths and concrete sounds, towards a free manipulation of sound with great sensitivity for the sources used. In an interview a few years ago, the artist pointed out what sense the “new” in music and sound had for him:

“The new term is double-edged. Compared to electroacoustic music, the new one was already invented 60 years ago. The circle cannot be continuously reopened. But you can change the aesthetic strategies and integrate them with new ideas. New instruments (such as computers) do not generate new music, but they can lead methods and techniques to perfection, as well as help to achieve further musical development. Furthermore, I am of the opinion that the ‘new = good’ equation is not necessarily exact. New, for me, is first of all a category and not a guarantee of quality. Sound is a particularly important and fundamental component of my compositions. It often happens that I find myself working both on the sound of a series of signals and on the structure of the piece itself. The modern term ‘sound’ was called ‘tonality’ in the past. In this sense, Claude Debussy was the first sound artist at the beginning of the twentieth century. Since I work and compose mostly in the studio, very conscientiously and with a distinct piano in mind, improvisation plays a subordinate role for me as a composer. As a listener, however, I really appreciate the successful improvisations of other musicians. “