Yet, Some Things Remain the Same

CLEMENS GADENSTÄTTER
building bodies

The ensemble is built around the voice and the electric guitar which work as the central-system of the piece. The guitar is connected to the voice via a “talk-box”, a tool that shapes the spectra of the guitar according to the mouth position of the player. In this way guitar works as a prolongation of the voice.  
This duo is extended by a keyboard (as an extension of the voice via sounds out of the vocal field), piano and percussion, that function more as prolongations of strings and vocal cords then as percussive sound sources.
Three brass-instruments are continuing this process of prolongation of the voice, as three lower string-instruments are continuing this prolongation in their way. 
All instruments also hit their idiomatic use. In this way the ensemble resembles a body with different parts, all interconnected and specific in their presence and function. 

In terms of form and structure “building bodies” works on grounding body experiences we all share. The piece takes its departure from a body-image that is one that can be shared by a large variety of humans – I do not dare to call these experiences as valid for all of us humans, since me myself I am imprisoned in a cultural and social based body image. By studies and research, it seemed to be possible to find more or less universal starting points for this project. 
The transformation of these grounding sound-materials and structures is done be re-relating them under the angle of various layers of their presence: from the sounding resemblance to the specific way of reference to the body (tactile, movement, spatiality etc.), from the layer of cultural use and semantic intent to the logics of idiomatic instrumental treatment as a structuring tool – just to name a few of the layers on which and by which the re-relating transformation takes place. 

The idea of “building bodies” is to create the possibility of a different body-image, of a different sensation of our body. These deviant body sensations are triggered by the music as described above (music triggering the body and thus shaping the body). 
Building a deviant body also means building an alternative experience of the world, our society, culture. Living an altered angle to the world – as the utopian aspect of this project – is the fundamental necessity of an altered behavior towards this world.   
This is my idea of “politics in the perception” which I take as one of the strong necessities of art in our (and maybe any) society. 

The texts that are interwoven into the piece are all taken from Pop- and Rock-Songs of the last 3 decades – all connected to the theme of the body. These texts are on one hand a representation of the cultural body-construction, on the other hand some of the tiny fragments provide metaphors of a certain complexity that is enrichened even by the juxtaposition of the fragments and certainly in the context of the music. 


Clemens Gadenstätter – building bodies for Voice, electric guitar and ensemble

Michel de Certeau spricht in seinem Band "Die Kunst des Handelns" unter anderem von städtischen Strukturen: Sie werden von höherer Stelle geplant und errichtet. Die Bevölkerung nutzt sie jedoch oft auf ganz unerwartete Weise. So wird das Trennelement der Mauer zur Sitzgelegenheit umgedeutet und dadurch ausgerechnet zum Ort der Begegnung. 
Der Titel "Break Eden" verweist auf solche Taktiken der Aneigung. Ein Bau- und Gartenparadies, dessen wirtschaftliche Rentabilität am "Break-even-point" erreicht wäre, wird umfunktioniert – mehr oder weniger rückbezogen auf den eigentlichen Gedanken des ultimativen Ortes der Sehnsucht. Im Sinne einer Bricolage versammelt der Text alte Rezepte und Ordnungen, indem er Zitate Hölderlins, Shelleys, Boccaccios und vieler anderer verwurstet und sie wie die Pfefferschote durch das Gericht der Gegenwart schleppt. Und die Musik steigt, Material aus den Texten saugend, ein. So zieht das Publikum im Stück den einsamen Dichter durch die Mähmaschinenausstellung, dokumentarische Klänge, die der Text vorschlägt, werden durchs feine Gewebe der Keyboardstimme gesiebt, die Grenzen zwischen natürlichem und gefaktem Singen verschwimmen wie die zwischen Mensch und Produkt, Elektronik und Pflanze. Auch Zeitstrukturen werden aus der Sprache extrahiert, um das Gerippe für Musik zu bilden, die sich an den so ganz anderen Rhythmen des Sprechens bricht, und dieses beschwört frech zwei englische Hausfrauen aus einem Bericht der „Sun“ als (unfreiwillige) Erfinderinnen des photosynthetischen Menschen. Schließlich geraten als eine Art Live-Einbruch von Realität die Stimmen des Pianisten und der Autorin in die Text-Gestaltung der Sängerin. Wie spät ist es? Wir haben Gegenwart: Wir tun, was wir können, um in der Erzeugung dieses Paradieses zusammenzuwirken, und zwar mit dem Slapstickhumor derer, die nur noch versuchen können, in einer selbst eingebrockten Situation ein Minimum an Würde zu bewahren. Bruch und Verschmelzung sind als Pole desselben nicht zu trennen.



Clemens Gadenstätter/Lisa Spalt (Text): Break Eden – Song 1 (Songs of Sirenes)

Clemens Gadenstätter/Lisa Spalt (Text) – Break Eden – Song 2

Clemens Gadenstätter/Lisa Spalt (Text) – Break Eden – Song 3

Clemens Gadenstätter/Lisa Spalt (Text): Break Eden – Song 4

Clemens Gadenstätter/Lisa Spalt (Text): Break Eden – Song 5

'Scratching memories' - for solo piano. 
Performed by Anna D'Errico. 

A work exploring resonance, friction, and grain — the tactile and fragile persistence of sound.

Scratching memories was commissionned by the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna, for the project Saiten-Tasten, Innenraumstudien für das andere Klavier (touching strings, studies for inside piano techniques) by Mathilde Hoursiangou, kindly supported by the Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung and the SKE/Fonds austro mechana.

Scratching memories

Music for distorted electric guitar.

Composed, performed and recorded by Carlos Mauro.

A Wall Is Speaking

I compose and improvise music. 
Thank you for listening!

Yet, Some Things Remain the Same

Carlos Mauro

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