Contemporay Acousmatic Music

2012 New Classical Releases Index

COMPOSITIONS (selection)

Fixed media compositions

Mendelssohn: Piano Concertos & Rondo brillante

Mendelssohn: Piano Concerto No. 1 in G Minor, Op. 25, MWV O7: I. Molto allegro con fuoco

Extract from the premiere of "inhabit_inhibit" (2019-2021) for 4 spatialized quartets, 6 soloists and live-electronics, by ASKO|Schoenberg & Ensemblekollektiv Berlin, conducted by Baldur Brönnimann, with sound engineer Florian Bogner.
@Muziekgebouw aan 't Ij, Amsterdam, 24.2.2022.
Composition commissioned by Ammodo/Muziekgebouw aan 't Ij & Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung
Edit: Stefan Prins

inhabit_inhibit (2019-2021) - extract

"inhabit_inhibit", for 4 spatialized quartets, 6 feedback soloists & live-electronics (2019-2021). World premiere at Muziekgebouw aan 't IJ (24.2.2022) by ASKO|Schönberg & soloists of Ensemblekollektiv Berlin, conductor: Baldur Brönnimann, sound: Florian Bogner. 
For a video recording of this performance, go to https://youtu.be/PkVCB_kq1Lc
Commissioned by Ammodo/Muziekgbouw aan 't IJ & Ernst von Siemens Musikstiftung.
Editing&Mastering: Stefan Prins

inhabit_inhibit (2019-2021)

Live-recording of "Inhibition Space #2" for bass clarinet and live-electronics, by Georg Wettin (Ensemble Courage), at Hellerau, Dresden, on 6.11.2022.

Inhibition Space #2 (2021) - Live

ISRC code: GBF071240808
Composer: Rachmaninov
Work: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini 
Movement: Variation 7 (Meno mosso)

Conductor: Michael Francis
Artist: Valentina Lisitsa
Orchestra: London Symphony Orchestra

If you want more information about this track please e-mail sync@decca.com 
Please quote GBF071240808 in the subject line.


Rachmaninov: Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini, Variation 7 (Meno mosso)

"Mesh" (2022-2023) for ensemble and live-electronics, here live-performed by the Nadar Ensemble at the Concertgebouw Brugge on 26.3.2023 (Yves Goemaere, perc & live-electronics; Dries Tack, bass clarinet and live-electronics; Thomas Moore, trombone & euphonium; Nico Couck, e-guitar+FX; Pieter Matthynssens, cello; Stefan Prins, live-electronics, Wannes Gonnissen, sound engineer).

Additional samples from Rainforests in Borneo and the Amazon recorded by David Monacchi for "Fragments of Extinction".

Commissioned by Nadar Ensemble & Concertgebouw Brugge. Supported by the Flemish Community.

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Even though "Mesh" can be performed as a stand-alone composition, it was premiered as part of the evening-length project "Der Wanderer 2.0" which I developed together with the Nadar Ensemble in 2023. In the version presented in the context of this project, the audience is wearing headphones on which part of the soundtrack and amplification is played back, while other parts of the soundtrack and amplification are heard through the loud speakers on stage. This splitting allowed for an extensive manipulation of sonic depth, nearness, distance, foreground, background, blanketing and uncovering. The audience was encouraged to play with the headphones, taking them on and off freely, listening to only one ear, etc., creating their own listening experience.
Of course none of this can be replicatd on this live-recording, in which the soundtrack is rendered to stereo.

Mesh (Stefan Prins, 2022-2023) - LIVE

For soprano, ensemble, live-electronics & live-video; Live-recording of premiere by Sarah Defrise (soprano), Ensemble Ascolta, Niklas Werani (sound engineer) & Stefan Prins (live-electronics) + Warped Type (video + scenography) at Festival NOW! Essen, Philharmonie Essen, 29.10.2023.

"skin deep #1" was commissioned by Festival NOW! Essen & Ensemble Ascolta with funding from the Ministeriums für Wissenschaft, Forschung und Kunst, Baden-Württenberg

Recording by Niklas Werani, mixing & mastering by Stefan Prins

skin deep #1 (Stefan Prins, 2023)

"Study for a Mirror Box" (2 channels fixed medium). Study for "Mirror Box (Flesh+Prosthesis #3)", for Saxophone, Percussion, Piano/Midi-keyboard & live-electronics (to be premiered by Trio Accanto at Eclat 2015) 

Study for a Mirror Box (Stefan Prins, 2014)

‘Âphâr is an Hebrew word that means “dust”.
This piece is inspired on the dream of Jacob, described in the Old Testament:
Jacob had a dream: He saw a stairway erected on the earth with its top reaching to the heavens. The angels of God were going up and coming down it and the Lord stood at its top. He said, I am the Lord, the God of your grandfather Abraham and the God of your father Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the ground you are lying on. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth (Genesis 28).

To climb Jacob’s ladder is a very difficult process. Each step you take is harder than the previous one and takes more time and effort to accomplish. These steps are heavy, and the dust in your feet is spread around, and finally disappears. If you reach the top of the stairs, everything else is gone, and a door closes to the rest of the world, you have reached infinity.
‘Âphâr was composed at the composer’s personal studio and at the Electroacoustic Music Studio of the University of Aveiro. It received the first prize in Yamaha-Visiones Sonoras competition (Mexico) in 2007.
Also check the version with video at:
https://vimeo.com/143418505

Aphar

Romantische Arien

Tannhäuser, WWV 70: Blick' ich umher in diesem edlen Kreise (Ansprache des Wolfram, 2. Akt aus: Tannhäuser WW 70)

KBS Classic FM - Beethoven's Four Seasons

Beethoven: Sonata For Violin And Piano No. 7 In C Minor, Op. 30 No. 2: 1. Allegro con brio

This work is part of a cycle of four works related to representations of the four elements in the Old Testament. Neshamah means “breath” and is inspired in the following biblical text:
Then the Lord God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature (Genesis 2:7).
This piece was commissioned by the Ibermúsicas Project and was composed at the Centro Mexicano para la Música y las Artes Sonoras and at the Centro de Pesquisa em Música Eletroacústica of Federal University of Minas Gerais. It received an honorable mention at the Concours International de Composition Electroacoustique de Monaco 2016 and at the Destellos Competition 2016.
Also check the version with video at:
https://youtu.be/RIzLRAQ9h0M

Neshamah

Stereo downmix of 8-channel electronic composition "Hybridae" (2012)

HYBRIDAE (2012) (stereo downmix of 8-channel version)

Hydatos belongs to a cycle of four pieces inspired by representations of the four elements (fire, water, earth, wind) in the Old Testament.
Hydatos is a Greek word that means “water”.
This piece is inspired on the first verses of the Old Testament (Genesis Chapter 1:2)
“And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.”
This piece was commissioned by Gulbenkian Foundation, and was composed in the composer’s personal studio and at the NOVARS Center in Manchester.It received the Second Prize at the Concours International de Composition KLANG! 2015. 
Also check the version with video at:
http://youtu.be/D87vRy5sLr0

Hydatos

This piece is inspired on the first vision of the prophet Ezechiel:  
Et vidi et ecce ventus turbinis veniebat ab aquilone et nubes magna et ignis involvens et splendor in circuitu eius et de medio eius quasi species electri id est de medio ignis (Ezechiel 1:4).
And I looked, and behold, a whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud, and a fire unfolding itself; and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst thereof as the color of amber, out of the midst of the fire.
Et Ignis Involvens was commissioned by Gulbenkian Foundation, and was composed at the composer’s personal studio and at the University of Keele Electronic Music Studio. It received the first prize at Metamorphoses 2006 Competition (Belgium).
Also check the version with video at:
http://youtu.be/ZxJ0L0n2Q6o

Et Ignis Involvens

Electronic study for "Fremdkörper #3 (mit Michael Jackson)", a composition for ensemble and live-electronics to be premiered by Klangforum Wien on 5th of February during the Impuls Festival 2010 in Graz.
More info: www.stefanprins.be

This is it! (study for Fremdkörper #3) - 2010

N'vi'ah is an Old Testament word meaning prophetess. 
A prophetess conveys one or more divine messages often in the form of inspired songs. And many times her words are cryptic, requiring interpretation or even translation. This work uses isolated phonemes as musical material. Intelligible words are not articulated, leaving to the listener the imagination of what their contents and meanings could be. N'vi'ah was commissioned by the Ibermúsicas Project, and composed at the Human Interaction Laboratory - Diego Portales University in Santiago de Chile. It is dedicated to Federico Schumacher.