Sequitur is a series of 14 compositions for various solo instruments and live-electronics written for outstanding soloists. Somehow it can be seen as a reference to Luciano Berio's famous Sequenze cycle of solo pieces which focus on specific playing techniques of the respective instrument including orchestral instrument. Essl's Sequitur cycle includes pieces for orchestral instruments like flute and violin, but also for voice, electric guitar, toy piano or kalimba.

All Sequitur composition use a software written in MaxMSP which creates an electronic accompaniment from the instrument’s live input; the player is confronted with his own playing, and this creates a situation like moving in a house of mirrors where the identities becomes blurred.

The Sequitur software generates a complex canon on the fly, the temporal structure and density of which being controlled by random operations. This yields different results every time the piece is performed. Although following a precisely notated score, there is always a good portion of surprise for the musician which emphasizes his awareness and attentiveness.

Info

Sequitur

Music for toy instruments and electronics by Karlheinz Essl, performed by Isabel Ettenauer. 10th Anniversary Extended Release (col legno 2023)
https://www.essl.at/records/whatever.html

Whatever Shall Be

Sequitur XIV was written for the Hamburg-based pianist and performer Jennifer Hymer and sets the thumb piano in focus. This instrument, named ‘Mbira’ in Africa, was discovered in the middle of the 20th Century from the British ethnomusicologist Hugh Tracey, who developed out of it a standardized western instrument named ‘kalimba’, and let it be produced industrially. In contrast to the African original, this western new construction is tuned diatonically.

First I tried to approach the instrument like a child in that I pushed away all knowledge about the high art of Mbira-practice to the side. What did I see before me? A trapezoidal shaped wooden box with metal blades of differing lengths that were fastened over a sound hole in the middle. After I examined the sound possibilities of the kalimba’s body through rubbing, scratching and knocking, I attached a contact microphone to its surface and sent the sounds through the same computer program that I had developed for the other “Sequitur” compositions. Suddenly everything became enchanted: the canonic layering of my knocking and scraping noises compressed themselves into a polyrhythmic layering and I felt myself being transported to the south of Africa where the African musicians play this instrument in ensemble and thereby produce a highly complex polyphony which the Viennese musicologist Gerhard Kubik described as “inherent patterns.”

Only later I dedicated myself to the metal tines and through the help of live electronic manipulation found means and ways to dig out an ongoing diatonic. After many months of free experimenting, I was finally able to write a concisely written score for Jennifer Hymer, which turned my summing-ups of this instrument into a sound journey.

https://www.essl.at/works/sequitur/sequitur-14.html

Sequitur XIV

Sequitur XIV (2009) for kalimba and live-electronics

On September 15, 1945, Anton Webern was shot by an American occupation soldier in alleged self-defense in Mittersill, where he had taken refuge from the approaching Red Army. Thus ended the life of one of the most influential composers of the modern era in an inconceivable and tragic way.

60 years later - on September 15, 2005 - two commemorative events for Anton Webern will take place within the framework of the 10th Composers' Forum Mittersill: for an event in public space, Karlheinz Essl has created the algorithmic sound installation WebernUhrWerk for computer-controlled Carillon. For the subsequent commemorative concert in St. Anna's Church, he wrote WebernSpielWerk for Toy Piano, which is a kind of projection of the Carillon music onto a toy piano. The pervasive character of the carillon, which filled the whole place in the afternoon, is reduced to the "poor" sound world of a toy piano, whose sound produced by struck metal rods resembles that of a bell - but is much more restrained and intimate.

This composition was written in the last days of August 2005 and is dedicated to Isabel Ettenauer, who premiered this work on September 15, 2005. It consists of four movements:

I. espressivo – mit einem gewissen sprechenden Ausdruck
II. molto rubato
III. Gemessenen Schritts (wie Totenglocken)
IV. sehr frei – molto intenso

https://www.essl.at/works/webernspielwerk.html

WebernSpielWerk

WebernSpielWerk (2005) for toy piano and ringmodulator

Concert version of Pandora’s Secret, a sound performance that Karlheinz wrote for Isabel Ettenauer's "Circus Lebasi", a music circus for the festival Linz09, when Linz was the European capital of culture. Scored for punch-tape-controlled music box and live electronics.
https://www.essl.at/works/pandoras-secret.html

Pandora's Revelation

Pandora's Revelation (2009) for music box and live-electronics

Karlheinz Essl's first piece for toy piano, composed 2005 for Isabel Ettenauer, became a signature piece for this instrument.

The primary aim of this piece is an attempt to break up the restricted sound world of the toy piano - not by superficial means of additional sound processing, but by the sound of the instrument itself. This is achieved by a sound file which is played back by a small loudspeaker which is hidden inside the toy piano; this creates a perfect blend between the sounds of the instrument and the sounds from the loudspeaker. 

Info and score: http://www.essl.at/works/kalimba.html

Whatever Shall be

Kalimba

Kalimba (2005) - for toy piano and playback

Recorded by Anton Lukoszevieze (cello) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics) at the University of East Anglia (Norwich, UK)on 18 Sep 2008.

The Sequitur cycle consists of 14 different compositions for various solo instruments and live-electronics. It can be seen as a reference to Berio’s famous “Sequenze” cycle of solo pieces which focus on specific playing techniques of the respective instrument.

All Sequitur composition use a software written in MaxMSP which creates an electronic accompaniment from the instrument’s live input; the player is confronted with his own playing, and this creates a situation like moving in a house of mirrors where the identities becomes blurred.

The software generates a complex canon on the fly, the temporal structure and density of which being controlled by random operations. This yields different results every time the piece is performed. Although following a precisely notated score, there is always a good portion of surprise for the musician which emphasizes his awareness and attentiveness.

Info: http://www.essl.at/works/sequitur/sequitur-4.html

Sequitur IV (2008) - for cello and live-electronics

Recorded by Isabel Ettenauer for the CD "whatever shall be - music for toy instruments and electronics" (edition eirelav, 2013)

Having written several pieces for the toy piano before, I dedicated Sequitur V to this interesting instrument which — in fact — has not much in common with the piano as we know it. Its sound resembles chimes or maybe parts of a gamelan orchestra and therefore is not connected to the great history of classical piano music from Bach to Stockhausen; a fact that makes this instrument more accessible for me. Although the toy piano is tiny in every respect, the sound that it produces in Sequitur V becomes incredibly rich thanks to amplification and realtime sound processing.

Info: http://www.essl.at/works/sequitur/sequitur-5.html

Sequitur V

Sequitur V (2005) - for toy piano and live-electronics

Recorded live with Barbara Lüneburg (electric violon and live-electronics) on 30 Oct 2010 in Vienna.

Sequitur is a series of 14 compositions for various solo instruments and live-electronics written for outstanding soloists. Somehow it can be seen as a reference to Luciano Berio's famous Sequenze cycle of solo pieces which focus on specific playing techniques of the respective instrument. Essl's Sequitur cycle includes pieces for orchestral instruments like flute and violin, but also for voice, electric guitar, toy piano or kalimba.

All Sequitur composition use a software written in MaxMSP which creates an electronic accompaniment from the instrument’s live input; the player is confronted with his own playing, and this creates a situation like moving in a house of mirrors where the identities becomes blurred.

Info: http://www.essl.at/works/sequitur/sequitur-3.html

Sequitur III (2008) - for electric violin and live-electronics

Recorded live on 23 Apr 2008 at the Essl Museum, Klosterneuburg with Georg Riedl (clarinet) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics).

Sequitur is a series of 14 compositions for various solo instruments and live-electronics written for outstanding soloists. Somehow it can be seen as a reference to Luciano Berio's famous Sequenze cycle of solo pieces which focus on specific playing techniques of the respective instrument. Essl's Sequitur cycle includes pieces for orchestral instruments like flute and violin, but also for voice, electric guitar, toy piano or kalimba.

All Sequitur composition use a software written in MaxMSP which creates an electronic accompaniment from the instrument&rsquo;s live input; the player is confronted with his own playing, and this creates a situation like moving in a house of mirrors where the identities becomes blurred.

The Sequitur software generates a complex canon on the fly, the temporal structure and density of which being controlled by random operations. This yields different results every time the piece is performed. Although following a precisely notated score, there is always a good portion of surprise for the musician which emphasizes his awareness and attentiveness.

Info: http://www.essl.at/works/sequitur/sequitur-2.html

Sequitur II (2008) - for clarinet and live-electronics

First reading of Karlheinz Essl's Sequitur I piece with Karlheinz on electronics.

Sequitur-I by Karlheinz Essl

Recorded live at INTONAZIONE festival on 20 Sep 2019 at Eremo Santa Caterina in Rio nell'Elba, performed by Rafał Zalech (viola & live-electronics)during a dance performance of Andrea Nagl. Mixed and produced by Karlheinz Essl.

Sequitur is a series of compositions for various solo instruments and live-electronics which I started in 2008. Somehow it can be seen as a reference to Berio’s famous “Sequenze” cycle of solo pieces which focus on specific playing techniques of the respective instrument.

All Sequitur compositions use a software written in MaxMSP which creates an electronic accompaniment from the instrument’s live input; the player is confronted with his own playing, and this creates a situation like moving in a house of mirrors where the identities become blurred. Each piece can be performed by the player alone who just has to press a key on the computer keyboard whenever this is indicated in the score. The software generates a complex canon on the fly, the temporal structure and density of which being controlled by random operations. This yields different results every time the piece is performed. Although following a precisely notated score, there is always a good portion of surprise for the musician which emphasizes his awareness and attentiveness.

More information: http://www.essl.at/works/sequitur.html

Sequitur IIIb

Sequitur IIIb (2008/2018)for viola and live-electronics

Born 1960 in Vienna. Austrian composer, improviser and performer. He studied composition with Friedrich Cerha and musicology in Vienna. Besides writing experimental instrumental music, he performs on his own electronic instrument m@ze°2, develops software environments for computer-aided composition and creates generative sound and video environments. Since 2007 professor of composition for electro-acoustic and experimental music at the University of Music in Vienna.

Karlheinz Essl performs on a laptop computer that he has transformed into a live electronic musical instrument. The result is exciting and musical. You just won't hear these sounds anywhere else. He performs solo and in duets and trios, responding with sensitivity to fellow musicians, producing fascinating sound transformations, creating spontaneous surprises, and moving quickly from loops to cacophony to tiny clips of vocal sounds to all kinds of textures and ideas. He does all this with his m@ze°2(Modular Algorithmic Zound Environment) performance software. (Joel Chadabe, CDeMusic, Januar 2002)
