Commissions to Joanna Bailie & François Sarhan

Commissioning new works for strings is a central concern of the Hamburg-based Ensemble Resonanz. In the coming years, the ensemble will continue to pursue the goal of exploring new aesthetic positions in the greatest possible diversity and intends to premiere a total of over 20 new works in the 2024/25 and 2025/26 seasons.

Two new works by Joanna Bailie and François Sarhan will be premiered at the Festival Musica in Strasbourg, made possible by the Ernst von Siemens Music Foundation.

Joanna Bailie says of her work residue: “My project is based on old recordings of string orchestras, which are repeatedly passed through reverberation and delay devices. The resulting sound slowly dissolves into a residue of strange harmonies and reverberant loops. A transcription of this material moves further away from the original, revealing a different kind of music, acoustic and self-contained in its essence, but carrying the spirit of the processed recordings.”

François Sarhan’s work is entitled covaru: “The title is borrowed from Jacques Roubaud, who summarized a series of texts about his conception of Oulipo under this abbreviation: COmposition VAriations RUminations. It is at the same time the designation of a typically European theoretical activity at a certain time and yet sounds like an exotic vocabulary. These contradictory aspects become the main source of my composition. The string ensemble is treated in an almost operatic way: With soloists, choirs, arias, dramatic twists and conflicts. The musicians perform as a duo, trio, quartet and quintet, arranged in islands, with the first violin in front, duo and trio behind and the other groups to the side”.

Further information:
ensembleresonanz.com

Date

September 25, 2024
Festival Musica, Strasbourg