Annäherung
"Annäherung" is an elusive German word that translates in English to something like "convergence" or "proximity". This concept is realized sonically, temporally, and physically in Georg Friedrich Haas’ new work for Miranda Cuckson and Parker Ramsay. The piece takes a unique approach to the tuning of the harp. The center of the instrument remains in “standard” Western tuning with the pitch A at 440. As the strings get shorter and the pitches are therefore higher, each string is tuned a few degrees sharper and sharper progressively. As the strings get longer from the center pitch and sound lower, each string is detuned progressively flatter. This creates a gorgeous harmonic language for the piece and turns the instrument into a kind of modulation machine, with the sounds spiraling farther away from, or closer to, the central pitch. The violin sometimes precisely matches the harp's tuning and at others plays its own slightly different microtonal intervals.
For much of the piece, the instruments are also often not in rhythmic synchronization, instead shifting in relation to each other with speed fluctuations and floating musical gestures. "Annäherung" has a spatial manifestation as well: while the harpist remains in place, the violinist walks, at specific moments indicated in the score, between different physical locations that are chosen and mapped out by the performers. All these simultaneous explorations of convergence and proximity result in mesmerizing atmospheres and a sonic experience that's akin to looking at a mobile sculpture by Alexander Calder.
The spark of this work came from duo’s admiration of each other as musicians and collaborators, and wanting to perform together. They were so excited to discover what Georg Friedrich Haas would compose for their combined forces, and it was a thrill for them to have the premiere at the Kaufman Music Center as an opportunity to set the creation and premiere of the piece in motion. Parker Ramsay and Miranda Cuckson
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For booking inquiries, please contact
Noé Kains, different birds
https://www.differentbirds.org/
