SINGING ISLANDS

Singing Islands

for space oriented chamber ensemble

Singing Islands is a hybridization of just intonation (in the brass), exotic Tepehua-related violin concepts (Central America) of varying fifth divisions (in the strings), and Indonesian-Melanesian oriented scales (vibraphone and bells). Added to this is a 12-tone-tempered woodwind world, at least most of the time, but with strange harsh blurrings.

The whole is distributed in a space of different islands of sound, which are individually constructed and only find unity on a superordinate sound level. The Ensemble UnitedBerlin has built new instruments for the percussion, for example a "Mokongo" of long wooden sticks, inspired by African concepts, or aluminum bells in a special tuning, added to tubular bells. The vibraphone is retuned with plasticine, or children's polymer clay (at the rim) to tune down some lamellas.

At the beginning, all players create an "ocean surf sound", mostly extremely soft, sometimes growing, space impressions are important, an improv of coming and going of "waves". From this a „chattering” of strings arise: people on an island shore. Then the first woodwind sound come up, reminding of birds in the forest, maybe. The brass seems to be a voice from „eternity” (?)