#1 Pioneers

Microtonalism, drone music, conceptualism, sound installation, just intonation, tone, space, are part of a vocabulary used in current musical practices that have an origin in the avant-garde that developed in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s with composers such as Eliane Radigue, Phill Niblock, James Tenney, Alvin Lucier, Stefano Scodanibbio, Annea Lockwood and Peter Ablinger.

Pioneers / Festival Vision

Echonance #1 is a tribute to those great pioneers who have contributed so much to sound practices today, and are, some of them, still producing inspiring works to this day.

The selected works have mostly been composed in the last thirty-five years and remain highly relevant and significant to younger generations. One of the particular characteristics of these musical works is that they explore minimal modulations and variations of acoustic perception. Musical materials such as rhythm and melody have been removed from the compositional parameters. Somehow these works invite us to listen from another perspective. We enter an immersive sound flow where sounds resonate with space, and space reveals the three-dimensional acoustic sound.

Next to the fact that these artists might have shared ideas, or aesthetic perspectives as starting points, the enriching thing about hearing their works in the same space and time is to perceive the developments that each of them has carried out in their musical journeys, reaching different musical results. One of the ambitions of the Echonance Festival is to create that opportunity for the Amsterdam audience at Orgelpark.

One Day Festival

Echonance #1 Pioneers is the first edition of a yearly festival initiated by composer Claudio F Baroni. This edition took place at Orgelpark, in Amsterdam.

Programme

ECHONANCE #1 Orgelpark Amsterdam October 22 2022 –

Eliane Radigue (dutch première) – Phill Niblock (dutch première) – James Tenney (dutch première) – Stefano Scodanibbio – Alvin Lucier – Peter Ablinger

Performers

The music was performed by an extraordinary line-up of ensembles and soloists who excel at this complex repertoire;

Ensemble Scordatura Elisabeth Smalt, viola – Alfrun Schmid, voice – Reinier van Houdt, keyboards

Ensemble Modelo62 Ezequiel Menalled conductor, electric guitar – Gemma Tripiana Muñoz, flute – Enric Sans i Morera, bass clarinet – Justin Christensen & Chloe Abott, trumpets – Vasilis Stefanopoulos, double bass

Claudio F Baroni, guest organ

Carol Robinson, bass Clarinet

Hélène Breschand, harp

Arthur Nicolas-Nauche, organ

Dario Calderone, double bass

Reinier van Houdt, piano

Program #1 /

1- James Tenney: Harmonium (1976) – Ensembles Scordatura + Modelo62

2- Phill Niblock: Unmounted / Muted Noun (2019) for organ – Arthur Nicolas-Nauche, organ (Dutch première)

3- James Tenney: Voices (1984) for variable instrumental ensemble – Ensembles Scordatura + Modelo62 + organ (Dutch première)

Program #2 /

1- Alvin Lucier: Nothing is real (1990) for piano and teapot – Reinier van Houdt, piano

2- Stefano Scodanibbio: Voyage that never ends (1978-2011) – Dario Calderone, double bass

Program #3 /

1- Éliane Radigue: OCCAM XVI (2014) for bass clarinet

2- Éliane Radigue: OCCAM XIV (2017) for harp (Dutch première).

3- Éliane Radigue & Carol Robinson: OCCAM RIVER XXVII (2020) for bass clarinet and harp (Dutch première).

Carol Robinson, bass clarinet + Hélène Breschand, harp

Program #4 /

1- Peter Ablinger: Instruments and phonographies (1997-2005) – Ensembles Scordatura + Modelo62 + organ

2- James Tenney: To Weave (a meditation) (2003) for piano – Reinier van Houdt, piano

3- Phill Niblock: Exploratory ‘Looking for Daniel’ – for variable instrumental ensemble (2019) – Ensembles Scordatura + Modelo62 + organ (Dutch première).

Haptic Room Study #2

The installation consists in an auditorium-like room for 3 to 4 people in which the audience can experience music and sonic elements as vibrations.

The public experiences works by composers Annea Lockwood, Phill Niblock, Yannis Kyriakides, Claudio F Baroni in the Haptic Room. The room was open to the public at all times during the festival.

Adi Hollander, Andreas Tegnander, Sungeun Lee installation artists