New Music by Karlheinz Essl

Performed by Christian Altenburger (violin) and Reinhard Latzko (cello)at festival LOISIARTE, Langenlois (23 Mar 2012). Geige und Cello, als Mitglieder einer Instrumentenfamilie eng verwandt und doch stark voneinander unterschieden, erleben während eines viertelstündigen Dialogs die fortwährende Verwandlung ihrer Identität. Die anfänglich extreme Gegensätzlichkeit zweier individueller Musiksprache...

juncTions was inspired by the Toronto-based keyboard collective junctQín. In 2009, junctQín asked me to write a piece for three pianists performing on one piano. Their request triggered several interesting questions for me: What can be achieved on a piano if one person plays the instrument in a traditional way (pressing the keys and pedals) while a second one is playing the inside (with an e-bow a...

Karlheinz Essls „blurred“ ist eine sehr geschickt komponierte, zum Teil zart und zerbrechlich wirkende 15-minütige Komposition, die sicher zum Besten gehört, was ich an Musik aus dem 21. Jahrhundert bislang gehört habe. Es ist teilweise wahrhaft atemberaubend, wie der Komponist aus nur drei Instrumenten (Flöte, Vibraphon und Violoncello) sowie Live-Elektronik (die der Komponist bei der Aufnahme se...

Jeremy Woodruff interviews Karlheinz Essl about his recent interdisciplinary sound works in collaboration with other artists including his sound installation on the grounds of the Humboldt University science campus in Berlin-Adlershof with Stefan Krüskemper. Produced for the Berlin-based web radio "Lautstrom" in 2011. http://www.essl.at/bibliogr/essl-woodruff.html

Free improvised interpretation of Agnes Heginger's poem "Auf Reisen" by the improvisation duo OUT OF THE BLUE with Agnes Heginger (voice) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics). Performed live at Klangturm St. Pölten on 1 Oct 2011. http://www.essl.at/div/outoftheblue.html

Performed by Amy Horvey (trumpet) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics)at the Concordia University, Montreal on 23 Sep 2011. Sequitur is a series of 14 compositions for various solo instruments and live-electronics written for outstanding soloists. Somehow it can be seen as a reference to Luciano Berio's famous Sequenze cycle of solo pieces which focus on specific playing techniques of the respect...

Free improvisation based on Ingeborg Bachmann's poem "Silben im Oleander", performed live at Atelier Johann Feilacher (26 Jun 2011).

Free improvisation on the lyrics of Falco's "Einzelhaft" by Agnes Heginger (vocals) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics, performed live at Walzengravieranstalt Guntramsdorf on May 20th, 2011. http://www.essl.at/div/outoftheblue.html

A generative sound environment for the art installation DOUBLE COATED IP CAPSULE by Guido Kucsko, presented at the Kunstforum Bank Austria (Vienna) in January 2011. Noises from our surrounding environment, bodies and machines are algorithmically morphed with the chant of a female, extracted from Karlheinz Essl's composition Sequitur IX for mezzo soprano and live-electronics. http://www.essl.at/wor...

Aufgenommen am 27. November 2010 im ZKM_Kubus in Karlsruhe (D) mit Mike Svoboda (Posaune) und Karlheinz Essl (Live-Elektronik). Seit 2008 arbeitet Karlheinz Essl an dem 14-teiligen Zyklus „Sequitur“ für unterschiedlichste Soloinstrumente und Live-Elektronik, der an die berühmten „Sequenze“ von Luciano Berio anknüpft. Hatte dieser einst prototypische Solostücke geschaffen, in denen die jeweiligen I...

Recorded live with Barbara Lüneburg (electric violon and live-electronics) on 30 Oct 2010 in Vienna. Sequitur is a series of 14 compositions for various solo instruments and live-electronics written for outstanding soloists. Somehow it can be seen as a reference to Luciano Berio's famous Sequenze cycle of solo pieces which focus on specific playing techniques of the respective instrument. Essl's S...

Performed by Hugo Wolf Quartet at the Hofburg Chapel Vienna on 20 Oct 2010. In seiner Erzählung “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” berichtet der argentinische Schriftsteller Jorge Luis Borges von einer fiktiven Kultur, deren Sprache keinerlei Hauptwörter kennt: “Es gibt kein Wort, das dem Wort 'Mond' entspricht, aber es gibt ein Verbum, das im Lateinischen 'lunare' oder bei uns 'monden' lauten würde. De...

Performed by Goska Isphording (harpsichord) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics) at NatLab Eindhoven (NL) on 10 Sep 2010. In this composition, the harpsichord is played in a highly unconventional manner. Except for the end of the piece, no keys are touched. Instead, the sound board and the lowest string of the instrument are excited in different manners. A contact microphone mounted on the sound...

Recorded live on 9 June 2010 at the Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg by Tzenka Dianova (piano) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics). Karlheinz Essl's “Sequitur XIII” (2009/2013) for extended piano and live electronics is an innovative work in which the piano has been transformed into a super instrument thanks to a computer-based algorithmic system. Turning the relatively simple instrumental material i...

Performed by Stephan Froleyks (percussion) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics) at Stadtheater Münster during the KlangZeit Festival. el-emen' für Solo-Schlagzeug und Live-Elektronik entstand in Zusammenarbeit mit dem Percussionisten Günter Meinhart. Vier unterschiedliche Familien von Schlaginstrumenten (Fell, Holz, Metall und Keramik), die den vier Elementen zugeordnet sind, werden über Mikropho...

The onset reminds of the tuning of an orchestra: the oboe intonates the chamber pitch A, which is then gradually taken on by the strings in different registers. A broad octave sound emerges, reminding one of Mahler. This ideal world does not last for long. The clear sound is disturbed by strident multiphonics and oscillating intonations of the brass, which is finally conferred to the strings: the...

Sequitur XIV was written for the Hamburg-based pianist and performer Jennifer Hymer and sets the thumb piano in focus. This instrument, named ‘Mbira’ in Africa, was discovered in the middle of the 20th Century from the British ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey, who developed out of it a standardized western instrument named ‘kalimba’, and let it be produced industrially. In contrast to the African ori...

Sound performance for computer & live-electronics, performed live at the 12th GlobArt Academy on Aug 20th, 2009 at Pernegg, Austria. Ausgangspunkt ist ein Ausschnitt aus einem Interview von Theodor Wiesengrund Adorno, in dem dieser über Anarchie spricht. Erst in feinste Einzelteile zerpflückt, lösen sich aus Rauschen die Worte heraus. „Es ist ein Garten, der gepflanzt ist, der ein Eigenleben hat....

Recorded by Lars Mlekusch (alto sax) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics) at Studio kHz (18 Aug 2009). The Sequitur cycle consists of 14 different compositions for various solo instruments and live-electronics. It can be seen as a reference to Berio’s famous “Sequenze” cycle of solo pieces which focus on specific playing techniques of the respective instrument. All Sequitur composition use a soft...

Generatives Klangenvironment zu einer Lichtinstallation von Rainer Gottemeier für das Projekt KunstLichtTore in Bochum. Das bekannte Steigerlied - die heimliche Hymne des Ruhrgebiets - dient Karlheinz Essl als Ausgangsmaterial für sein Klang-Environment zu BOCHUMSTEP. Einer Aufnahme des Chorstücks wird eine eigene Bearbeitung für lochkarten-gesteuerte Spieluhr entgegengesetzt. Diese beiden Klangsp...

Recorded by Anton Lukoszevieze (cello) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics) at the University of East Anglia (Norwich, UK)on 18 Sep 2008. The Sequitur cycle consists of 14 different compositions for various solo instruments and live-electronics. It can be seen as a reference to Berio’s famous “Sequenze” cycle of solo pieces which focus on specific playing techniques of the respective instrument....

Recorded live on 23 Apr 2008 at the Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg with Georg Riedl (clarinet) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics). Sequitur is a series of 14 compositions for various solo instruments and live-electronics written for outstanding soloists. Somehow it can be seen as a reference to Luciano Berio's famous Sequenze cycle of solo pieces which focus on specific playing techniques of the r...

Performed by Ensemble Intègrales (Barbara Lüneburg: vl, Burkhard Friedrich: sax, Ashley Hribar: pno, Oleg Dziewanowski: perc) and Karlheinz Essl: m@z°2 more or less is an computer-driven realtime composition where the musicians do not reproduce parts of a fixed score. Instead of executing a pre-fabricated text from note sheets, they are viewing computer monitors which display random-generated play...

A music mobile for four saxophones, performed by Ensemble 4saxess during the IGNM Musikfest 2007 at Konzerthaus Vienna. Info: http://www.essl.at/works/7x7/7x7-saxophones.html

Jonathan Meese, der sanftwütige Kunstberserker aus deutschen Landen, verwandelt den Großen Saal des Essl Museums in eine überbordende Druckkammer, in der sich Objekte, Bilder und Klänge zu einem brodelnden Lavastrom verbinden. Herzstück dieses Environments bildet eine gigantische Maschine, die in der Rotunde des Museums versenkt ist und von dort ihre Energie in Form intensiver Klangströme nach obe...