Crossed Lines
Swiss Contemporary Music crossed with Improvised Electronic Music
Hugo Queirós - Bass Clarinet and Contrabass Clarinet
Samuel Gfeller - Live Electronics and Sound Engineer
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Crossed Lines was premiered on 26th May 2014, at 20h, in Bern. Weekly, will be launched one video of this concert on the News section! You are welcome to take a look. |
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This project is the result of the teamwork of two very different and very ambitious musicians: Hugo Queirós, a virtuoso bass clarinetist who focused his work in contemporary music and Samuel Gfeller, a creative and innovative sound artist who focus his work in algorithmic composition and live electronics.
Together they build Crossed Lines, a innovative bass clarinet recital concept which joins the best of both artists, bringing in a perfect harmony a flowing performance of original Swiss music for bass (and contrabass) clarinet and improvisations with live electronics.
After a long search we find out several Swiss works for bass clarinet in very distinct styles and aesthetics; so we decided to take the ones we think that make sense to give an expressive idea of the music diversity of nowadays. The first piece is Canto (2012) by David P. Hefti, the newest piece in concert, which shows how the bass clarinet can create very pleasant harmonies, putting in mind the medieval polyphony. After we go on with Assonance II, by M. Jarrell, a virtuoso and demanding piece that includes most of the bass clarinet effects; this is already one of the most important pieces on the bass clarinet repertoire. In a very different aesthetic, we go on with Dahinden’s Action for Jackson, a very spontaneous piece inspired by Jackson Polock’s “Echo” and Eric Dolphy’s “Serene”; the electronics for this piece are emulated stomp boxes changing a bass clarinet sound. In the middle of the concert will be performed the only Swiss piece we found for solo contrabass clarinet, “El Mar” by Hans U. Lehmann that will lead us into a very deep and calm moment, which fits perfectly for such a big instrument. Contrechant by Heins Holliger was composed originally for clarinet, but in this concert will be performed the bass clarinet version; often Holliger’s works refers to literary works, this is Contrechant sur le nom de Baudelaire and it’s composed schematically as a poem, with verses and stanzas. In the last piece, “Puzzle”, Martin Schlumpf plays a lot with abrupt tempo changes, working on to create a complex groove. As the title suggests, for a good result of this piece is vital the extreme combination between tape and bass clarinet, otherwise the puzzle doesn’t fit together.
In order to create some consistency with so many different pieces we will create improvised moments, called “intermezzi”, between each piece that will somehow resume the piece that was played and create the environment to prepare the listeners for the next piece. Through a live electronic system, Samuel will be able to manipulate in real time the sounds produced by Hugo and create dialogs, conversations or perhaps discussions, as a part of their improvisations.
Avoiding the ordinary clapping moments between each piece – the classic recital format – we try to create a whole performance experience that is unique every time we play.
Programme
Prélude for “Crossed Lines” – electronics solo
Canto (2012) for solo bass clarinet – David Philip Hefti
Intermezzo I
Assonance II (1989) for solo bass clarinet – Michael Jarrell
Intermezzo II
Action for Jackson (2009) for bass clarinet and electronic – Roland Dahinden
Intermezzo III
El Mar (1993) for contrabass clarinet solo – Hans Ulrich Lehmann
Intermezzo IV
Contrechant (2007/8) for solo bass clarinet – Heinz Holliger
Intermezzo V
Puzzle (2011) for bass clarinet and electronic – Martin Schlumpf
Postlude for “Crossed Lines”
Hugo Queirós – bass clarinet and contrabass clarinet
(www.hugoqueiros.com)
Samuel Gfeller – live electronics and sound engineer
(www.samuelgfeller.ch)
Prélude for “Crossed Lines” – electronics solo
Canto (2012) for solo bass clarinet – David Philip Hefti
Intermezzo I
Assonance II (1989) for solo bass clarinet – Michael Jarrell
Intermezzo II
Action for Jackson (2009) for bass clarinet and electronic – Roland Dahinden
Intermezzo III
El Mar (1993) for contrabass clarinet solo – Hans Ulrich Lehmann
Intermezzo IV
Contrechant (2007/8) for solo bass clarinet – Heinz Holliger
Intermezzo V
Puzzle (2011) for bass clarinet and electronic – Martin Schlumpf
Postlude for “Crossed Lines”
Hugo Queirós – bass clarinet and contrabass clarinet
(www.hugoqueiros.com)
Samuel Gfeller – live electronics and sound engineer
(www.samuelgfeller.ch)
Samuel Gfeller musiziert seit seiner Kindheit auf den verschiedensten Instrumenten. Nach der Ausbildung zum Primarlehrer studiert er seit 2007 an der Hochschule der Künste Bern „Musik und Medienkunst“ und aktuell im Master „Contemporary Arts Practice“. Die Arbeit mit neuen Medien findet ihren Einfluss in der Zusammenarbeit mit anderen Künstlern aus Performance Art, Theater, Video, Film und Tanz. In seinen eigenen Projekten arbeitet er mit aufgenommenen und elektronischen Klängen. In eigens dafür geschaffenen Software-Anwendungen baut er Algorithmen und Zufallsentscheidungen in seine Werke ein, die sich als Hörstücke, Klanginstallationen, Kompositionen für Instrumente und Live-Elektronik umschreiben lassen. Seit 2010 ist er Assistent im Tonstudio der Hochschule der Künste Bern.
www.samuelgfeller.ch
www.samuelgfeller.ch
