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THE ENIGMATIC AS A PHILOSOPHICAL-AESTHETIC CATEGORY AND THE MAIN SPRING OF ARTISTIC CREATION »It is the mysterious, the enigmatic and the deepest innermost unfathomable aspect of reality that has always fascinated me and thus the need to sense the unspeakable, to want to give the distant, the ou-topos present, as a driving force, so to speak, unbounded musical imagination.« The world, viewed as a kind of great enigma, into which man strives to penetrate ever more deeply with the instruments of science and in which, behind every single finding, a whole compendium of new, fascinating questions and enigmas opens up - this is how the world view can be summarized Describe Michael Quells. This immediately becomes the mainspring of his artistic work, which is strongly characterized by the search for the existential. Scientific thinking, in particular the specific world view of physics, plays a major role for the composer. For Quell, the visionary, utopian moment that drives his thinking and work lies in the urge to »go beyond what is just conceivable, accessible«. He is constantly on the lookout for the instruments with which he can penetrate these new worlds and shape them meticulously, even obsessing over detail. Anyone who listens to Quell's music agrees to be carried off into such unknown worlds; that completely new spaces open up: spaces of perception, sound spaces, structural spaces, hyperspaces, cosmic spaces. The composer creates fascinating worlds of sound with a complex, interacting work structure, in which the structural principles are deliberately kept hidden, but the results of which are clearly recognizable on the surface. In this way, the »world of the appearance of things« is shaped in a concrete and differentiated way. Each work takes its own unexpected turns and advances into previously unimagined spaces. In retrospect, the parts of the work that have been heard fit together to form a coherent whole that reveals itself as a multiple cosmos. In the interdependencies (1998) these moments are created from a philosophical-aesthetic point of view and also come into play in the musical design - especially in the juxtaposition of new and tonally extremely diverse sections. Quell quotes the physicist and philosopher Peter Eisenhardt: "Reality is interaction, it only exists insofar as it has an effect on an observer and suffers an effect from this observer." Worlds collide with the instrumentation of the work: guitar and drums have one each with its own, significantly different historically accumulated aura. At the beginning of the work, the instruments seem to want to free themselves from connotations and historical ballast. Long passages of the guitar part are purely percussive. The guitar is played with a bottleneck to create microtonal sound structures in a narrow tonal space. In this way, she approaches the sound of drums, which, in addition to instruments made of fur, metal and wood, also uses a cardboard tube and creates rubbing sounds with sandpaper. Between microtonal parts and veritable percussion orgies, familiar instrumental sounds flash up again and again. The end belongs to the guitar alone, which strokes its highest and lowest strings with a violin bow, gradually letting the music fade away. As the first work by Quell takes Dark Matter (2011) has its starting point in astrophysics: It refers to the cosmological hypothesis of dark matter, which is not detectable or even observable, but is indispensable for explaining the rotational speed of galaxies. (A recording of Dark Matter is like that of String II—Graviton to be found on the CD »Michael Quell – Chamber Music Vol. 2« [NEOS 11904].) As a result, the composer initiated two groups of works: String and energeia aphanés. The individual compositions, which belong to one of the two larger work cycles, are independent works that are independent of one another. They are comparable in their conception, in their respective characteristics they are highly individual. »energeia aphanés« means »dark energy«. It is hypothetical, its assumption is an attempt (and currently the only one) to explain why the universe is expanding at an increasing rate - an observation that contradicts the gravitational pull of matter in the universe. As a symbol for composing, the idea of principles that work in the background and are not perceptible in the foreground harbors almost "adventurous aesthetic potential" (Quell). energeia aphanés I (2013) is characterized by the thought of time flowing away. An impulse at the beginning of the work triggers resonances, which in turn act as impulse generators and in turn form resonance surfaces. Multiphonic and fluctuating sound fields in different regions and diverse instrumentations alternate irregularly. The increasing compression in the middle of the piece breaks off, triggering the movement of three of the four participants into space. There they act with glasses and create high, shimmering microtonal soundscapes. The rubbing on frame drums creates indefinite and far-away sound surfaces. At the end the high register is taken up again and the music fades away vibrantly. After the expanse of space has been traversed, time seems to dissolve with it (also in formal terms). energeia aphanés II (2018) primarily juxtaposes noise and tone: the movement, composed of contrabass clarinet and accordion at the beginning, is extremely dense, but located on the threshold of perceptibility. Pitches are only hinted at late and then assert themselves more and more in multi-layered unfolding processes. The whirlpool-like concentration that follows suddenly breaks off, allowing the finest mixtures of instrumental sounds to be heard in the extremely high register and setting free new developments. Polyphonically fluctuating surfaces are absorbed by the accordion in the lower register, comparable to a process of thinning out of matter in the universe. A new process of reconstruction is followed by the dismantling of the sound, which literally vanishes into thin air. energeia aphanés III—physis (2019) strives outwards even more than the other two compositions in the group of works, aims at the external-physical, even at that which lies outside of the music. Dance is potentially planned for performances. The expressive density of the beginning is shadowy around the tone h stored around. It strives for an explosion that leaves flat, microtonally screwed fragments. These accumulate in a juxtaposition and superimposition of instrumentally different blocks. Then the participants, carrying a few small musical building blocks with them, move to different positions at the edge of the room. Starting from extremely high accordion tones, a trembling, vibrating, brightly changing world of sound emerges, which is increasingly characterized by repetitions. Proper indentations in the sentence lead to its dissolution into individual events. The title of the group of works String refers to the string theory of quantum physics. Like the assumption of dark energy, it is hypothetical, but to date it represents the only theory that combines all four elementary forces and in which all elementary particles are ultimately traced back to different patterns of a kind of primal vibration, comparable to a tiny (one-dimensional) oscillating thread. The group of works consists of four individual works, each of which is inspired by different aspects of string theory: String I for oboe (2013) refers to the elementary, fundamental peculiarities of the theory and to the one-dimensional, vibrating threads; the remaining works are dedicated to specific features of string theory: String II—Graviton for nonet cast bears the name of a particle of matter in the title that conveys gravitation; the title of the trio for violin, accordion and piano, String III—Branes, designates the two-dimensional objects to be examined, which are comparable to oscillating planes, but can also have significantly more dimensions (string theory calculates in or with an 11-dimensional space); the outstanding composition String IV – M alludes to M theory, which extends and generalizes string theory(s): According to physicist Edward Witten, the letter M itself is enigmatic, standing for membrane or matrix, magical or mysterious. Even compared to Berios Sequence VII and similar solo compositions for oboe are the technical and physical challenges of String I downright adventurous. This is due to the dimensions of the work and not least because the texture is characterized by the dense interlocking of moving multiphonics with other highly demanding playing styles. The "thread music" is initiated with the sound b2, which initially imperceptibly fluctuates in color until its inner movement pushes outwards to conquer new tonal spaces. Various paths are explored in the composition: They are based on microvariances, lead to multiform figures, to polyphony, periodic movements and inner vibrations and use polyphonic tremolos, double trills and trill glissandi. The ending picks up on the original idea, so that the oboe music goes hand in hand with the sound as3 can swing out. String III—Branes (2019) is chamber music in extremely dense interaction. The fascinating diversity of the ensemble sound, which in no way shies away from extremes, is also due to the use of accessories: in addition to bell-like flageolet sounds, plectrums, hard book covers, shot glasses, felt-covered wood, nylon cords and E-Bows are used in the piano part to create dull or hard, buzzing and static as well as spherical-symphonic sounds. The first part is set in motion in a complex manner with five rhythmic scales, whereupon the mass of sound is compressed until the structure breaks and for a while only the tone D1 remains. Materials accumulate on it and it is surrounded by wave movements. A sound-symphonic middle section is followed by the final passage, reminiscent of a field of rubble, in which fragmented elements form new constellations. With the reduction of the multifaceted and the stretching of time, an extremely broad horizon opens up at the end. In these five later works, the sound worlds are further differentiated, structural and tonal edges are further explored. The density of relationships in the background is high: the micro and macro levels are designed uniformly, so that the connection is maintained despite the variety of shapes. Processes of temporal and spatial compression or thinning characterize the sound image. The dissolution of the linear flow of time, the overcoming of time and space is an ideal with inherent potential for transcendence. Inspired by astrophysics, the composer creates something that points beyond what is otherwise (three-dimensionally) perceived and takes us listeners into unimagined spaces. Matthew Schlothfeldt program: Michael Quelle (* 1960) [01] energeia aphanés III—physis (2019) 11:25 [02] energeia aphanés II for double bass clarinet and accordion (2018) 13:16 [03] interdependencies for guitar and drums (1998) 08:44 [04] String I for oboe solo (2013) 12:02 [05] energeia aphanés I (2013) 08:47 [06] String III—Branes for violin, accordion and piano(2019) 15:01 Total playing time: 69:42 the/yellow/sound Benjamin Fisher, oboe [04]
Press:
With his music, Michael Quell wants to show that our world itself remains complex and ultimately inexplicable behind all theories and scientific evidence. […] Once again, the ensemble der/gelbe/klang shows an alert joy of playing that beguiles the senses!
A composer's handwriting is a good way of trying to figure out how he works, and fortunately there are a number of score excerpts included in the album's booklet. Michael Quell writes meticulously, almost calligraphically. […] The interpretation from the autograph is of course conjecture, but Quell's handwriting could well be evidence of the high tonal transparency of his music and his interest in detail. [...] The musicians of “der/gelbe/klang” can implement the high degree of fusion and fine tonal association in a detailed and concentrated manner. […] The album complements the previous two with particularly calm and timeless and that is why it is so exciting and deep chamber music by Michael Quelle. Jacob Boettcher
[…] The pieces of his “eneria aphanés” (2013/19) revolve around the cosmological hypothesis of “dark energy” in various configurations. Quell creates impressively dense sound textures that constantly change their physical states, density ratios, colors and kinetic energies. […] “String I” for oboe solo (2013) is probably one of the most difficult pieces written for oboe. Benjamin Fischer moves brilliantly through almost unplayable terrain. The ensemble der/gelbe/klang also brings to light the remarkable richness of timbres and the existential energy potential of this microscopically modeled instrumental music with great sensitivity. Dirk Wieschollek
Beck knife Michael Quell's new CD with compositions from the series "energeia aphanés" and "String" (2013-2019) has now had its CD launch at the "Schwere Reiter" event center in Munich. It was one of the first live concerts at the Schwer Reiter after a long Corona break. The performers were the ensemble “der/gelbe/klang”, founded in 2020, which can also be heard on the CD. In an interview, the composer explains the meaning of the terms “energeia aphanés” (“dark energy”) and “string”, which come from astrophysics and quantum theory, and how he translates these abstract worlds of ideas into concrete sounds. Max Nyffeler |
