#YÖ_#Y

for thirteen musicians
WP 23.06.2021, Kühlspot Berlin

instrumentation:
recorders
clarinet / bass clarinet
trumpet
french horn
3 electronics
vibraphone
2 percussions
piano
2 double basses

The concept behind #YÖ_#Y was to build on well-established principles of the Circuit Training Ensemble—such as collective, improvisational interaction or the individual shaping of graphically notated material—and, starting from there, to push the boundaries of ensemble sound in certain areas or to further differentiate it. Particularly in the harmonic domain, I introduced notational elements such as chord fields or aleatorically chosen tonal phrases that had not previously appeared in the ensemble practice in this form. This resulted in a fragmented score (or rather, a collection of individual parts that cannot be compiled into a vertical overview), where diverse notational forms coexist and gain validity depending on necessity and practicality.

#YÖ_#Y contains more or less subtle allusions to György Ligeti’s Concerto for Violoncello and Orchestra (1966). In fact, the opening minutes of the piece are an adaptation of the first movement of the cello concerto, reimagined for the completely different instrumentation of the Circuit Training Ensemble. The final section of the piece, however, features an extended turntable solo (accompanied by white noise from the ensemble), which draws on material from an original recording of the cello concerto.
Less obvious references appear primarily at the structural level of the composition, which in large parts unfolds through the layering and transformation of clearly defined, static sound blocks.