Peter Michael Hamel, "Gestalt for Orchestra"
-- Liner Notes --
Sinfonieorchester des Südwestfunks
Cristobal Halffter, conductor
PETER MICHAEL HAMEL
No composer of his generation has met the challenge of non-European music so squarely and worked it into his own music so intensively as has Peter Michael Hamel. And the many facets of his output reflect not only a complex personality but also a multi-level view of music and ,society which Hamel has faced from the outset of his career.
Born in Munich in 1947, Hamel first studied composition with Buchtger and Bialas and musicology with Georgiades and Dahlhaus. But even as a young man he was not interested solely in the analysis of contemporary music or in the creative potential of composition: he was equally fascinated by those spontaneous crusades into new musical realms which are possibly in a group, and which were undertaken in the 1960s in Free Jazz as well as by many free improvisation ensembles.
From the age of 23 Hamel devoted himself whole-heartedly for an entire decade to the improvisatory group "Between", which he co-founded. The very name of the group harbours an aesthetic platform; as Hamel himself has said: '"Between means the intermediary world in which 'between music' takes place. Between music is collective music. Between music is improvised composition. It takes place between the 'philharmonic', the 'avant-garde' and 'jazz'. The six musicians in Between come from two continents and three worlds. Their dream is the blue flower growing between the
milestones on the road to a future world-music."
The music of this group, which was documented in a continuous series of gramophone recordings, is fascinating not only for its gingerly approach to non-European musical models but also for its fruitful and far-ranging confrontation with indigenous music of several centuries and continents. Hamel himself appeared at many festivals as a pianist, organist, singer and producer of live electronic sounds, honing himself into a musician and composer by constant contact with the practical side of music. He made several foreign tours, of which those to the Indian subcontinent turned into intellectually crucial voyages of discovery.
In 1976 he published a book, "Durch Musik zum Selbst" (Using music to reach the Self), an impressive account of his association with non-European music which reflects his studies of Indian vocal styles and tonal systems as well as his experiences with breathing therapy. This book reveals fundamental spiritual patterns which even today still serve as the basis of his work as a composer. Hamel's early essays in composition such as "Dharana" for orchestra, solo improvisers and tape (1972) or "Samma Samadhi" for orchestra, chorus and solo improvisers (1972-3) attempt to transform his experiences with non-European music to meet the demands of improvisation. With his orchestral piece "Diaphainon" (1973-4), "Maitreya" (1974) and "Integrale Musik" (197~-6), however, he began a series of works which continues to the present day and might best be described as experiments in integration. All of these pieces attempt to fuse spiritual experiences from two major cultural realms. And it is no secret that in recent years - most notably in his opera "Ein Menschentraum" (A dream of man) which was premiered in Kassel in 1981 - Hamel has restrained the "oriental", i. e. Indian, Tibetan and Far-Eastern influences in his music, solidifying the compositional structure and eliminating the influence of improvisation. This same "East-West" conflict reappears in sublimated form in his "Gestalt fur Orchester", a work written in 1980 for the Donaueschingen Festival and premiered there in the same year. -- Wolfgang Burde
Holistic Composition
In autumn of 1972 I first became acquainted with the writings of Jean Gebser, a Swiss cultural philosopher who, in his major works "Abendlandische Wandlung" and "Ursprung und Gegenwart", argues on behalf of a change of consciousness, which he considers a necessity of our time. As he wrote in "Ursprung und Gegenwart": "Today, rational ego-consciousness, whose mightiest weapon resides in the technology of nuclear fission, faces the prospect of catastrophic failure. This makes it possible for ego-consciousness to give way to a new consciousness. If we return to the roots of human evolution and observe the structures of consciousness from this vantage point, not only will our past and present be revealed to us, the future as well will open up before our eyes, enabling us, amidst the disintegration of our age, to discern the outlines of a new reality.
A new note, a new form, a new vision will become perceivable where today we think we hear only cries and dissonance."
In compositions such as "Diaphainon", "Maitreya", and now again in "Gestalt fur Orchester" (Figure for Orchestra), I have attempted to transform Gebser's notion of the different forms of consciousness - archaic, magical, mythical, mental and integral - into a musical language. Archaic-magical consciousness is rendered audible in the form of "monotony" - rudimentary drones and rhythms - and the overtone series.
Mythical consciousness is expressed by monophonic modal scales and micro-intervals related to a central pitch. Mental or rational consciousness is represented by the evolution of Western art music from polyphony and counterpoint to harmony and chromaticism, and finally to serialism and musique concrete. According to Gebser, the transition to integral awareness "consists in the simultaneity of the magical, mythical and mental components of human consciousness. In terms of my music, this means a holistic union of rudimentary rhythms and deep fundamentals with their overtone series (physical or magical perception), monophonic modal scales in a heterophonic texture (psychic or mythical experience), and functional and dodecaphonic harmony together with noise and Klangfarbenmusik (intellectual or mental comprehension).
A holistic compositional approach of this sort also implies the breakdown of ethnocentric boundaries, and is open to medieval and non-European elements rooted primarily in the realm of magic and myth. Naturally, "integral music in the form outlined above cannot simply be "generated". Rather, it is a preliminary musical foundation for a holistic stance toward human consciousness, and an attempt to interlink the contrary musical components in my own mind. My realization of this conception of music must speak for itself. I composed "Gestalt fiir Orchester" at the Villa Massimo, Rome, in March and April 1980. -- Peter Michael Hamel
Sinfonieorchester des Südwestfunks
Cristobal Halffter, conductor
PETER MICHAEL HAMEL
No composer of his generation has met the challenge of non-European music so squarely and worked it into his own music so intensively as has Peter Michael Hamel. And the many facets of his output reflect not only a complex personality but also a multi-level view of music and ,society which Hamel has faced from the outset of his career.
Born in Munich in 1947, Hamel first studied composition with Buchtger and Bialas and musicology with Georgiades and Dahlhaus. But even as a young man he was not interested solely in the analysis of contemporary music or in the creative potential of composition: he was equally fascinated by those spontaneous crusades into new musical realms which are possibly in a group, and which were undertaken in the 1960s in Free Jazz as well as by many free improvisation ensembles.
From the age of 23 Hamel devoted himself whole-heartedly for an entire decade to the improvisatory group "Between", which he co-founded. The very name of the group harbours an aesthetic platform; as Hamel himself has said: '"Between means the intermediary world in which 'between music' takes place. Between music is collective music. Between music is improvised composition. It takes place between the 'philharmonic', the 'avant-garde' and 'jazz'. The six musicians in Between come from two continents and three worlds. Their dream is the blue flower growing between the
milestones on the road to a future world-music."
The music of this group, which was documented in a continuous series of gramophone recordings, is fascinating not only for its gingerly approach to non-European musical models but also for its fruitful and far-ranging confrontation with indigenous music of several centuries and continents. Hamel himself appeared at many festivals as a pianist, organist, singer and producer of live electronic sounds, honing himself into a musician and composer by constant contact with the practical side of music. He made several foreign tours, of which those to the Indian subcontinent turned into intellectually crucial voyages of discovery.
In 1976 he published a book, "Durch Musik zum Selbst" (Using music to reach the Self), an impressive account of his association with non-European music which reflects his studies of Indian vocal styles and tonal systems as well as his experiences with breathing therapy. This book reveals fundamental spiritual patterns which even today still serve as the basis of his work as a composer. Hamel's early essays in composition such as "Dharana" for orchestra, solo improvisers and tape (1972) or "Samma Samadhi" for orchestra, chorus and solo improvisers (1972-3) attempt to transform his experiences with non-European music to meet the demands of improvisation. With his orchestral piece "Diaphainon" (1973-4), "Maitreya" (1974) and "Integrale Musik" (197~-6), however, he began a series of works which continues to the present day and might best be described as experiments in integration. All of these pieces attempt to fuse spiritual experiences from two major cultural realms. And it is no secret that in recent years - most notably in his opera "Ein Menschentraum" (A dream of man) which was premiered in Kassel in 1981 - Hamel has restrained the "oriental", i. e. Indian, Tibetan and Far-Eastern influences in his music, solidifying the compositional structure and eliminating the influence of improvisation. This same "East-West" conflict reappears in sublimated form in his "Gestalt fur Orchester", a work written in 1980 for the Donaueschingen Festival and premiered there in the same year. -- Wolfgang Burde
Holistic Composition
In autumn of 1972 I first became acquainted with the writings of Jean Gebser, a Swiss cultural philosopher who, in his major works "Abendlandische Wandlung" and "Ursprung und Gegenwart", argues on behalf of a change of consciousness, which he considers a necessity of our time. As he wrote in "Ursprung und Gegenwart": "Today, rational ego-consciousness, whose mightiest weapon resides in the technology of nuclear fission, faces the prospect of catastrophic failure. This makes it possible for ego-consciousness to give way to a new consciousness. If we return to the roots of human evolution and observe the structures of consciousness from this vantage point, not only will our past and present be revealed to us, the future as well will open up before our eyes, enabling us, amidst the disintegration of our age, to discern the outlines of a new reality.
A new note, a new form, a new vision will become perceivable where today we think we hear only cries and dissonance."
In compositions such as "Diaphainon", "Maitreya", and now again in "Gestalt fur Orchester" (Figure for Orchestra), I have attempted to transform Gebser's notion of the different forms of consciousness - archaic, magical, mythical, mental and integral - into a musical language. Archaic-magical consciousness is rendered audible in the form of "monotony" - rudimentary drones and rhythms - and the overtone series.
Mythical consciousness is expressed by monophonic modal scales and micro-intervals related to a central pitch. Mental or rational consciousness is represented by the evolution of Western art music from polyphony and counterpoint to harmony and chromaticism, and finally to serialism and musique concrete. According to Gebser, the transition to integral awareness "consists in the simultaneity of the magical, mythical and mental components of human consciousness. In terms of my music, this means a holistic union of rudimentary rhythms and deep fundamentals with their overtone series (physical or magical perception), monophonic modal scales in a heterophonic texture (psychic or mythical experience), and functional and dodecaphonic harmony together with noise and Klangfarbenmusik (intellectual or mental comprehension).
A holistic compositional approach of this sort also implies the breakdown of ethnocentric boundaries, and is open to medieval and non-European elements rooted primarily in the realm of magic and myth. Naturally, "integral music in the form outlined above cannot simply be "generated". Rather, it is a preliminary musical foundation for a holistic stance toward human consciousness, and an attempt to interlink the contrary musical components in my own mind. My realization of this conception of music must speak for itself. I composed "Gestalt fiir Orchester" at the Villa Massimo, Rome, in March and April 1980. -- Peter Michael Hamel
Labels: Avant Garde Project, Cristobal Halffter, jodru, Peter Michael Hamel
posted by jodru at 14:42
1 Comments:
Maybe you should hear Gestalt OrchestrA : http://www.dogmazic.net/Gestalt_OrchestrA
all their album are free to share.
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