Hannes Lingens
Four Pieces for Quintet
INSUB | 2013| download/printed object & A3 sheet
Koen Nutters | Double Bass
Johnny Chang | Viola
Michael Thieke | Clarinet
Hannes Lingens | Accordion
Derek Shirley | Double Bass
Hannes Lingens
5 pieces for quintet (2013)
graphic composition
1. no.2 05:03
2. no.5 05:05
3. no.3 05:05
4. no.4 05:02
Recorded on april 28th, 2013, in Berlin by Alexis Baskind
Design by d’incise
four of the five pieces have been released on insub
about:
My pieces evoke the idea of a system. I like the thought that someone could find the images and, assuming a certain logic behind them, try to find out what they mean. This someone might come to a completely different result as we did in our realisation of the scores. If music is about communication then maybe these pieces are about language in the end.
-from the liner notes by Hannes Lingens
links:
no. 2:
press:
After several years operating as a concert platform, Geneva-based INSUB. (formerly Insubordinations) have launched a label, with their first release arriving courtesy of Berlin-based composer and musician Hannes Lingens. Four graphical scores are interpreted by a group consisting of Lingens on accordion, Koen Nutters and Derek Shirley on double basses, Johnny Chang on viola, and Michael Thieke on clarinet. Long, drawn-out notes are used as building blocks to construct a range of slowly shifting harmonies, with some variation in dynamics, number of voices, and level of dissonance — a not uncommon approach in the spaces where influences from experimental composition and improvisation overlap, yet in a couple of important ways these four pieces stand out.
Most of the works I’ve come across from this scene push towards abstraction — not that they seek to form a relationship to tonality via its negation, as with the atonality of old, but rather they seem to completely efface (suppress?) the question of tonality altogether. However, what I gather from listening and from reading the thoughts of those more knowledgeable than I is that a relaxing of this attitude is becoming more and more audible. Lingens et al certainly put forward a cogent articulation of this new-found lack of panic regarding the tonal, cycling through rows of harmonies in which the concordant and the dissonant are given equal room to unfold. While allusions to tonal harmonies in these four pieces are just about strong enough to be coloured by those harmonies’ historical emotional connotations, it is probably more accurate to say (as Lingens himself puts it, in relation to beauty, in the insightful interview provided with the release) that composer and performers alike are no longer going out of their way to avoid the tonal, without necessarily transforming themselves into peddlers of the Western tonal commodity.
The more I hear this release, the more I find myself enjoying its ability to build structures that are simultaneously both challenging and recognisable, an experience that the traditional avant-garde disdain for the tonal does not allow for. Those bored by the dryness and airlessness of many a lowercase approach to new composition and improvisation may be pleasantly surprised by how many colours Lingens and his ensemble breath into the form. A welcome start from INSUB., and great work by Lingens and the performers.
-Dan, Fluid Radio
Percussionist and accordionist Hannes Lingens lives and works in Berlin. To perform his composition „Four Pieces for Quintet,“ his accordion is joined by four of Berlin’s finest—the double basses of Koen Nutters and Derek Shirley, the violin of Johnny Chang and the clarinet of Michael Thieke. Straight away, there is a benefit to the new format, as the folded A3 sheet in the card sleeve includes the graphic scores for the four pieces. They are intriguingly cryptic, each displaying five lines (one per player) consisting of blocks of different lengths and colours but no indication of what durations or tones they signify. Neither is there any indication which score corresponds to which piece.A quote from Lingens indicates that such ambiguity is deliberate: „I like the thought that someone could find the images and, assuming a certain logic behind them, try to find out what they mean. This someone might come to a completely different result as we did in our realisation of the scores.“ In an interview printed on the A3 sheet, Lingens offers more information on how the quintet approached his score, but does not reveal much more than that each piece has a duration of five minutes because „there were five pieces originally, five players and five colours/tones, so I thought they should be five minutes each.“ Comparing the scores to the renditions, it is possible to begin to fathom out which is which and what they mean—but that is hard work and feels rather like code-breaking (more espionage!) so is not to be encouraged…
Irrespective of the scores, the twenty minutes of music makes engaging listening. In each piece, its limited palette is deployed effectively to create a range of contrasting colours, moods and effects. In his interview, Lingens acknowledges that he has been influenced by Wandelweiser, particularly name-checking Antoine Beuger and Michael Pisaro. That influence is evident in the length of time that combinations of tones are sustained so that their sounds can be savoured. Overall, the composition creates a mood of calm and tranquillity reminiscent of many Wandelweiser pieces. It is an excellent way to inaugurate a new imprint, and singles Lingens out as a composer to watch.
-John Eyles, All About Jazz
Few things provide more pleasure for me that to, out of the blue, discover the work of a composer that I connect with so quickly. I’ve doubtless been remiss but Lingens wasn’t even a name to me prior to this excellent release. From the interview enclosed, I gather that his scores might often be more overtly complex than this one but „Four Pieces for Quintet“ is subtle enough as is, the concision of the score allowing for plenty of variation within a given field.
The quintet is Koen Nutters (double bass), Johnny Chang (viola), Michael Thieke (clarinet), Lingens (Accordion) and Derek Shirley (double bass). The score consists of five bars, each divided into rectangles or squares of colors or empty spaces (each square encompassing 15 seconds, by my reckoning). Five musicians, five colors, each piece lasting five minutes. Players select a tone they feel corresponds with the color and hold that note (all strings arco). Very simple but, given the combination of placement of the frame and the sensitivity of the players involved, the result is rich and profound. The presence of two basses tilts the music toward the low end though that’s offset often enough by the viola and accordion especially. Not a new idea, of course, that a graphic score will gently steer improvisers down a path they might not tread otherwise, but still one that’s capable of yielding fresh fruit. The pieces, as realized here, sometimes take on a hymn-like feel, very slow, with „voice“ lines entering at irregularly staggered intervals, the accordion taking on a breathing, in and out aspect on occasion, others assuming the organ role.
While I’m curious how this score might be handled by different ensembles, this one is just richly layered and stirring. I also clearly need to hear more Lingens. Great work.
-Brian Olewnick, Blogspot
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