Repetition of the musical interval, the musical phrase, is a prominent feature of “Trauermusik für Michael Hirsch” (2017), composed by Dieter Schnebel (b. 1930), in memory of the recently deceased friend and colleague to whom the work is dedicated. Sequences of repeated intervals lead to a final section which introduces a musical phrase referencing the name of the composer; as if being viewed from differing perspectives, the phrase is then presented in varying permutations, with sections repeated ad lib according to the prerogatives of the performers. Time becomes elastic.

While composing “Melodia” (1979) for solo accordion, Toshio Hosokawa (b. 1955, Hiroshima) described his search “for a new sound dimension”. The main catalyst for the work, says the composer, was the idea of the sheng, the traditional Chinese mouth organ, an instrument consisting of 17 vertical reed pipes, whose origin dates back to the 11th century BCE. In excerpts from the work that will be presented this evening, quiet intervals build to create fascinating soundscapes, a sonic metaphor for the mesmerizing optical fields of Aisha Khalid. Indeed, the inspiration for “Melodia” as a whole can be seen to intersect in the broadest sense with I AM AND I AM NOT inasmuch as a contemporary Japanese composer’s inspiration reaches back to ancient China, the historical roots of the figurative miniature tradition of the Mughal Empire, a technique central to Aisha Khalid’s visual language.

The third performance of the evening put the improvisational talents of the performers on display, in particular, their intimate knowledge of the myriad possibilities of sonic interplay of timbre, gesture and extended techniques between their two instruments. Paté and Badczong have taken inspiration from I AM AND AM NOT and will perform a duet to accent and counterpoint the works on view.

Just as the works of I AM AND I AM NOT embody a wealth of references through space and time, so too, the program of ITINERANT INTERLUDE #14.1 aspired, in this more ephemeral encounter, to lend an acoustic dimension to similar artistic concerns.

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Three excerpts from “Ur-text” were performed together with their correlates, plainchants from the Song of Songs as found in the 11th century Klosterneuburger codex: “Aperi michi” (Open the door); “Pulchra es amica mea” (I am full of loveliness, I am good oil); and “Sicut malus inter ligna” (Promises among the apple trees). The relationship between the ancient Sumerian songs and medieval Latin plainchant is particularly exciting, Lixenberg observes, “because it forms an artistic, cultural, and geological seam that cannot be argued with. No one owns it. And everyone owns it. It illustrates the artistic richness and connectivity of the region that can’t be eradicated as long as the song lines exist.”

Just as THE RED GAZE unfolded a plethora of cross-references through space and time, so too, the program of ITINERANT INTERLUDE #82 aspired, in this more ephemeral encounter, to realize something similar, namely, to reveal the song lines that traverse space and time.

THE RED GAZE curated by A.S. Bruckstein Çoruh. Works by Ahmet Elhan, Memed Erdener a.k.a. Extramücadele, Erdem Gündüz, Ali Kaaf, Navid Kermani, Aisha Khalid, Şükran Moral, Erkan Özgen, Pablo Picasso, Imran Qureshi, Rebecca Raue, Sarkis, Arnold Schönberg, Eşref Yildirim.

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