Double Bill

Description

«Double Bill». The concept is simple: two concerts, two artistic signatures, one evening. Musicians and ensembles from the region invite friends and companions from beyond the Röstigraben to Basel. Together, they create a contrasting double evening that brings together different musical perspectives.
James Morley – «Entkopplung»
The first part of the evening is led by cellist James Morley with «Entkopplung», a program of new works by composers Isaac Roth Blumfield, Robin Michel, and Elnaz Seyedi. The focus is on questions of disembodiment and virtuosity, as well as the relationship between classical instrument and technology. The traditional expressive character of the cello is transformed and re-examined from a contemporary perspective, without losing the connection to the essence of the instrument. Using body sound transducers and electromechanical extensions of cello playing, Morley explores new possibilities of the instrument and develops alternative ways to experience a live performance with a cello. «Entkopplung» thus questions the role of the purely acoustic instrument in an increasingly digitalized world: Can it detach itself from technological entanglements and gain new freedoms? Or does it increasingly reach its limits when trying to keep pace with technological development?
Enno Poppe/Ensemble Contrechamps – «Laub»
In the second part of the «Double Bill», the ensemble Contrechamps dedicates itself to Enno Poppe's «Laub». The title already hints at the plant world, which repeatedly plays a central role in Poppe's work, and at the same time at his idea of sound as something that constantly changes, branches out, and multiplies. From the smallest musical elements, a dense network emerges that always moves on the threshold between order and disorder.
Enno Poppe describes the process of creating «Laub» as a game between the most precise observation and loss of control:
"Each individual cell can be illuminated and examined. Are we under a microscope or in a dream? How is it that we are wide awake and focused, yet lose the sense of time, the tonal system, and all other organizing forces? If I already knew what happens in a new piece, I wouldn't need to write it anymore. It is clear that I start with very little, fragments of a melody, tiny elements that are very similar to each other. From these germ cells, a dense network of relationships, a jungle, a dream, emerges. The piece is always on the threshold between order and disorder. It sings, it waits."
With each new work, Poppe tries to take a different path. Large-scale, sometimes loud and massive works like «Prozession» and «Körper» were followed by miniatures like «Augen» and «Blumen», which focused on the individual moment. Earlier chamber music works like «Trauben» and «Fleisch» are characterized by wild, intense energy. «Laub» provides a contrast: the approximately 40-minute chamber music piece is delicate and spacious, traditionally instrumented, and omits electronics and unusual instruments. And then, as Poppe himself writes, «it simply stops at some point». Participants and additional information:
James Morley (cello); Isaac Roth Blumfield, Robin Michel, Elnaz Seyedi (composition) Enno Poppe (composition/conducting); Ensemble Contrechamps: Antoine Françoise (keyboards); Susanne Peters (flute); Violaine Dufès (oboe); Laurent Bruttin (clarinet); Maximilian Haft (violin); Hans Egidi (viola); Martina Brodbeck (cello)

Highlights

• Double concert with James Morley and Enno Poppe
• New works and innovative approaches in cello playing
• Venue: Gare du Nord, Basel

General Information

The event «Double Bill» presents two contrasting concerts in one evening. James Morley showcases new perspectives on the cello with his program «Entkopplung», while Enno Poppe and the ensemble Contrechamps set further musical accents with «Laub».

Location

Schwarzwaldallee 200, 4058 Basel, Switzerland

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