PRINS, STEFAN Inhabit
Description
'inhabit' the second release by Stefan Prins on Sub Rosa, brings together four recent, large-scale compositions in which traditional instruments-from bass woodwind trio to electric guitar and symphonic orchestra-merge seamlessly with electronics, feedback, and field recordings.
'inhabit' once again serves as a testament to how Prins, whose work is performed worldwide by some of the most celebrated musicians, ensembles, and orchestras, continues to stay attuned to the pulse of contemporary music. His compositions offer a refreshing, gripping, and consistently surprising exploration of the increasingly porous boundaries between the acoustic and electronic realms.
The first disc of this double album, co-produced by Deutschlandfunk Kultur, opens with 'Inhibition Space #1,'a piece for amplified bass woodwind trio and feedback, deliveredin a masterful performance by the Berlin-based Ensemble Mosaik.This exploration of instrumentally controlled feedback is juxtaposed with an acoustic chamber orchestra in the multidimensional 'inhabit_inhibit,' captured during a gripping live performance by EnsembleKollektiv Berlin, conducted by Max Murray at Ultraschall Berlin in 2023.
The second disc features Prins' provocative electric guitar concerto, 'under_current,' performed by the formidable Yaron Deutsch on electric guitar and the dream-team of the BBC ScottishSymphony Orchestra under the baton of conductor Ilan Volkov.In this expansive sonic landscape, ranging from delicate flageolet whispers to ear-splitting outbursts-the orchestra functions as an acoustic meta-amplifier for the electric guitar, enhanced by a range of effect pedals.
The album concludes with 'Mesh,' for five instruments,feedback, electronics, and field recordings, in which thetraditional boundaries between human, technology, and natureare completely deconstructed. In their place, Prins createsa world where unexpected sonic connections emerge anddissolve, like acoustic mirages. The Belgian Nadar Ensemble,which Prins co-directs, once again demonstrates why it is sucha sought-after ensemble on the international concert stage, andone of Prins' principal musical ambassadors. Additionally, this release includes an exclusive, insightful text on these compositions by music journalist, researcher, and novelist Joep Christenhusz.
This release is a co-production with Deutschlandfunk Kultur and BBC Radio 3 and was made possible by the generous support of the Flemish Community (Flanders State of the Art), the Nadar Ensemble, Ensemble Mosaik, and EnsembleKollektiv Berlin, along with all the musicians involved.
Titles
01. Inhibition Space #1 2020
02. inhabit_inhibit 2019-21
03. under_current 2020-21
04. Mesh 2022-23
Press
Vital Week (EN · SSK · 22/10/2024)
Sounds to live in, to warm oneself too. Cosy up in aural matter, immersive tones to inhabit... From the off: that's not the material Stefan Prins deals in. His new release, out on the celebrated Sub Rosa label, presents four large-scale works for acoustic woodwinds, electric guitar, orchestra and electronics, feedback and field recordings. And that's material for those loathing the likes of for example Einaudi or Pärt, this moves into the realsm of Russell Haswell, Leif Ellgren and Carl Michael von
Hausswolff. And beyond.
The works operate on a massive scale, bending piercing and shrieking feedback tones into subharmonies and overtones with acoustically produced noises. Tuning and attunement push and pull. Fresh and refreshing are the openings Prins searches for and finds in the midst of virtually chaotic juxtapositions - his works breathe with a non-density: a spectacular massivness and all-encompassing musical sound vista not unlike Iannis Xenakis or Jannis Christou, but with more spaces in between the curved lines, the paraboles and hyperprisms.
In these non-densities, these blanks, so to speak, left open, Prins manages to use this porous nature of his compositions to allow acoustic phenomena and sounds to dance around and merge with electronic matter. While this may indeed sound academic, these works, expertly performed by Ensemble Mosaik, EnsembleKollektiv Berlin, Nadar Ensemble and Yaron Deutsch with the BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, Prins manages to
imbue his composition with long and soul-stirring narrative arcs. His are not the tiny vignettes or what I would call 'Polaroid' snapshots. His is a post-neo-post-modern, almost Caspar David Friedrich-like vast horizon of internal and external turmoil finding expression through the most contemporary of means - there's no nostalgia at play here, mind you.
This is sonic landscaping in the futuristic deconstruction of what a grand narrative contemporary composition can be, could be, should be, projected from what's to come towards our present time's con brio. Nature, nurture, tech. A bumpy, sometimes abrasive ride, not for the faint-hearted. A nuanced yet bold statement of intent from the noises of our times.
From the same artist
- PRINS, STEFANInhabit16.60 €
