“How changed Zarathustra is! Zarathustra has become a child, an awakened one. What do you plan to do in the land of the sleepers? You have been floating in a sea of solitude, and the sea has borne you up. At long last, are you ready for dry land? Are you ready to drag yourself ashore?”

Friedrich Nietzsche

2020 is the ultimate leap year. We have leapt (or been pushed?) into the unknown. Some people’s lives changed overnight, others suffered the slow pain of uncertainty for months. Almost every person on earth experienced some kind of personal quest this year, whether it be a journey into the inner self or the development of a new orientation towards solitude. Even when we are out, our individual faces need to be hidden away under a wearisome mask.

How can we re-connect with, or rediscover, our individual voices? Pradnampetch Kanoknak explores the existence of individual voice within the family in her The 5 Members: Sound of Family Relationship, while Piyawat Louilarpprasert demonstrates his attempt as a trombonist to grow back his sounds through the instrument in Atem (1975) for trombone solo by Maurico Kagel.  In the distant land, Cime Lointaine by Violeta Dinescu performed by Peter Veale, depicts a faraway summit where life hides away from the tumults of current moment.

In another corner of the globe, Dhorn Taksinwarajan recreates his voice with digital means and attempts to give it new life with his piano playing in TRANS – MUTE. The inherent value of Dhorn’s purpose is re-confirmed by My Spirit is Awakening for solo Bassoon by Yii Kah Hoe, performed by Christoph Wichert, a work that reveals that the only way to protect the indigenous way of life is to awaken the spirit within ourselves.  With the sound of imaginary birds from Winter Birds from “Five pieces after Paul Klee” by Toshiya Sukegawa, performed by Max Reifer, life is breathed into the movement of a dancer, freeing our mind into the air.

“A dialogue. An interaction of two planes. Two voices trace a single line.” In To and Fro, we follow the sounds that travel back and forth between Peter Veale (oboe) and Hannah Weirich (violin), forming a melodic thread that elongates the air. Synchronization is further enhanced with Modelle VII: für variable Besetzung by Hans Zender, in which five instruments breath and move in silence together, forming an invisible bond that connects individuals into a singular body.

A dialogue with oneself is perhaps the most intricate of all. Addiction to Progression (Stages) for Bassoon and pre-recorded Bassoon composed and edited by Ilysia Tan, traces the transition between two states of mind and the puzzling dialogue between the self and ‘somebody else’. Vakuum Lieder (2017) for solo vacuum cleaner by Carola Bauckholt provides a stark contrast, pulling us out of boredom and drawing our attention to a common object that she has turned into an instrument of wonder. The fun becomes limitless with Binalig by Harold Andre Cruz Santos, which transforms Kulintang into an exploration of sounds and rhythms. The following work, by Clash Music for a pair of cymbals by Nicolaus A. Huber,  regulates the movement of two dancers that exist in the different realities of two players of the same piece, recorded in different places and times.

A Thai poem about the world half-told, read by Rassami Paoluengtong, leads the way into the final part of the concert, in which the idea of equality is explored. The Weather Riots by Samuel Vriezen, performed by PGVIM students, plays with different ideas of social togetherness. We finish with In(Div)idual, an improvisation by Thanisa Durongkaveroj (Piano), Weerapong Donlakhon and Yutthana Amrarong (Dancers), a work that tells the story through sound of an individual floating in a sea of solitude, trying to land herself ashore, and awakened again with a new voice; The voice of an individual that nonetheless reverberates with the sounds of the world she is emerging from and the new reality that is now hers to discover.

Thanks to the Audio-Visual Materials from:

Ensemble Musikfabrik
Janet Sinica
Daniel Seitz
Chirstoph Wichert
Ilysia Tan
Max Riefer
Harold Andre Cruz Santos
Natthapat Kirawiroj

Performers

Taceti Ensemble, Trombone and Vacuum Cleaner
Dhorn Taksinwarajan, Piano
Thanisa Durongkaveroj, Piano
Weerapong Donlakhon and Yutthana Amrarong, Dancers
Rassami Paoluengtong, Reciter

Musicians

(Zoom and Live Session)  – Workshop with Christoph Wichert

Modelle VII and IX

Jirasiri Kangvannavakul, Flute
Songklod Nunthakasem, Trombone
Pradnampetch Kanoknak, Violin
Jirayut Thaolipo, Double Bass
Nadis Boonrod, Marimba
Anusorn Prabnongbua, Marimba

The Weather Riots

Siraphob Maitreesirimongkol, Flute
Prannathorn Teerarodjanakul, Oboe
Jirapahn Kaokum, Violin
Krittaya Lorpiyanon, Violin
Phumthana Mu, Violin
Pingka Sirisujinte, Violin
Yotsakron Ruengchaicharoen, Violin
Phumirin Chantanayingyong, Cello
Anupon Cheychum, Glockenspiel
Sanpetch Sibsiri, Piano