Simon Steen-Andersen's grosso is composed for amplified quartet, Leslie speaker, and orchestra, and will be premiered by the New York-based quartet Yarn/Wire together with the SWR Symphony Orchestra under the direction of Susanne Blumenthal.
The composer says about the work:
"Having spent the last 10 years working primarily with multimedia, found material and theatrical formats, I wanted to focus on some of the sounds and musical ideas that often ended up in the background in service of broader concepts or theatrical elements.
The idea of found material or ready-mades remains the starting point in grosso, but in terms of the musical and physical properties of specific instruments and objects, such as their pitch selection, layout, mechanics, timbre, and resonance.
At the centre – almost as a fifth performer – stands a Leslie speaker, the legendary double-rotary speaker system associated with the Hammond organ. Not just its signature pulsation and Doppler effect, but also the mechanical sounds of its inner workings are examined and followed as musical motifs. The protagonists of grosso could be said to be two old, iconic machines; the Leslie speaker and the orchestra ..."
The world premiere performance takes place on Friday 18 October 20:00 at Donaueschinger Musiktage. Find more information about the concert here.