STEPHAN MATHIEU
A Static Place
CD 12k 1064
www.12k.com
www.bitsteam.de
"A Static Place is about the journey of sound. Between 1928 and 1932 the earliest recordings of historically informed performances of music from the late Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque era were etched into 78RPM records. I used some of these records from my collection, playing them back with two mechanical acoustic HMV Model 102 gramophones. The initial soundwaves produced back then by period instruments like the clavichord, viols, lute, hurdy-gurdy are read from the grooves by a cactus needle to be amplified by the gramophones diaphragm housed in a soundbox. Those vibrations travel through the tonearm which is connected straight to the gramophones horn, which releases the music to my space. Here the sound is again picked up by a pair of customized microphones and send to my computer, to be transformed by spectral analysis and convolution processes."
Stephan Mathieu, Madrid, Nov. 31, 2010
Stephan Mathieu (*1967) is considered to be one of the most unique composers working in the field of digital and electroacoustic music today. His signature sound is largely based on period instruments, environmental sound and obsolete media which are recorded and transformed by means of experimental microphony, re-editing techniques and software processes involving spectral analysis and convolution. Paying close attention to detail and
to the affecting content of the piece, Mathieu creates unique sonic expieriences working with traces of the perceived reality. His music, at the same time soft-paced and razor sharp, has been released on 16 CDs to critical acclaim, with his most recent album Radioland being among the best releases in 2008. Mathieu has created sound installations for the 4th century Aula Palatina at Trier and the 19th century ironworks Völklinger Hütte UNESCO world heritages and the Rosa-Luxemburg-Platz in Berlin. Stephan Mathieus most recent project Virginals deals with his interest for early instruments, interpretation, historical informed performance practice and antique recording techniques.
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