artist: MARCUS SCHMICKLER
title: Demos (For Choir, Chamber Quintet And Electronic Music)
label: A-Musik
country: Germany
format: CD
title: Demos (For Choir, Chamber Quintet And Electronic Music)
label: A-Musik
country: Germany
format: CD
"Marcus Schmickler's recent release on a-musik is yet more proof of his stylistic
diversity. His music defies all attempts at categorization. Schmickler appears to be well
versed in all musical genres, having reached a level of perfection which seems almost
unique in these times. Sui generis, as they say. only a short while after his impressive
duo improvisation with John Tilbury (Variety) and with a new Pluramon album due for
release, Schmickler will once again convince critics and audiences. At the same time,
this release reveals yet another aspect of his manifold musical activities - composing
for instrumental ensembles and choirs.
Demos is Schmickler's most ambitious work to date. Premiered in March 2004 in
Cologne, the piece went on a triumphal trip through half of Europe. Among other places,
it has been performed at Cracow and the renowned Center For Contemporary Arts (CCA)
in Glasgow, where it was performed in the course of a three day festival organized
especially for Schmickler. Demos - which can be heard on this release in an
arrangement for choir, chamber ensemble and electronic sounds - deals with
Nietzsche's thoughts expressed in his 'Zarathustra' on the extent with which language
could be dealt with (or addressed) as music. The piece does so on the basis of
fragments from the text. The basis for (t)his philosophy, Nietzsche perceived in the
expression of the choirs in ancient Greek tragedy. Marcus Schmickler transcends the
classic mythic emblems of ancient Greek choirs such as recitative and declamation by
employing contemporary means. In the overwhelming power of the choir, Demos - the
Greek term for 'community' and commonly used for 'people' - lets one sense the energy,
which serves as a metaphor for a people and their ability to strongly voice their desires,
their requests and their demands. Moreover, Schmickler's abstract and surreptitious
electronic sounds blend in an illustrative way with the text and the imagination of
events portrayed in the dramatic performances of the choir. Thus they become
projections of the clamour of an abstract mass.
Demos is demanding, disturbing and suggestive in its idiosyncratic blend of sounds.
This is a music which passes on the spirit of such luminaries as the late György Ligeti
(Requiem), Jani Christou or Iannis Xenakis (Medea), but which in Schmickler's
contemporary attitude gains a wholly different significance. Complementing the album
are two excerpts of Schmickler's musical arrangements for theatre productions. All in
all, this is an album which resurrects traditions as well as pursues the hitherto unheard
in a unique way. In addition to that, it examines in how far constructivist and
post-dramatic approaches can today inspire classic forms with new structures though
the amalgamation of text, music and performative elements without betraying the
qualities of the originals." (Joachim Ody)
diversity. His music defies all attempts at categorization. Schmickler appears to be well
versed in all musical genres, having reached a level of perfection which seems almost
unique in these times. Sui generis, as they say. only a short while after his impressive
duo improvisation with John Tilbury (Variety) and with a new Pluramon album due for
release, Schmickler will once again convince critics and audiences. At the same time,
this release reveals yet another aspect of his manifold musical activities - composing
for instrumental ensembles and choirs.
Demos is Schmickler's most ambitious work to date. Premiered in March 2004 in
Cologne, the piece went on a triumphal trip through half of Europe. Among other places,
it has been performed at Cracow and the renowned Center For Contemporary Arts (CCA)
in Glasgow, where it was performed in the course of a three day festival organized
especially for Schmickler. Demos - which can be heard on this release in an
arrangement for choir, chamber ensemble and electronic sounds - deals with
Nietzsche's thoughts expressed in his 'Zarathustra' on the extent with which language
could be dealt with (or addressed) as music. The piece does so on the basis of
fragments from the text. The basis for (t)his philosophy, Nietzsche perceived in the
expression of the choirs in ancient Greek tragedy. Marcus Schmickler transcends the
classic mythic emblems of ancient Greek choirs such as recitative and declamation by
employing contemporary means. In the overwhelming power of the choir, Demos - the
Greek term for 'community' and commonly used for 'people' - lets one sense the energy,
which serves as a metaphor for a people and their ability to strongly voice their desires,
their requests and their demands. Moreover, Schmickler's abstract and surreptitious
electronic sounds blend in an illustrative way with the text and the imagination of
events portrayed in the dramatic performances of the choir. Thus they become
projections of the clamour of an abstract mass.
Demos is demanding, disturbing and suggestive in its idiosyncratic blend of sounds.
This is a music which passes on the spirit of such luminaries as the late György Ligeti
(Requiem), Jani Christou or Iannis Xenakis (Medea), but which in Schmickler's
contemporary attitude gains a wholly different significance. Complementing the album
are two excerpts of Schmickler's musical arrangements for theatre productions. All in
all, this is an album which resurrects traditions as well as pursues the hitherto unheard
in a unique way. In addition to that, it examines in how far constructivist and
post-dramatic approaches can today inspire classic forms with new structures though
the amalgamation of text, music and performative elements without betraying the
qualities of the originals." (Joachim Ody)