Impromptus in Discourse with a Condemned Space
2023 / 2024
The cycle Impromptus in Discourse with a Condemned Space comprises performative acoustic interventions that engage with the space of the Hans-Rosbaud Studio and endeavour to capture it from a phenomenological and narrativistic perspective.
Nestled in the rolling hills of the black forest, The Hans-Rosbaud Studio, built in 1950, was the first structure erected on the SWR campus in Baden-Baden by the German public broadcaster after World War II. It's square proportions, high windows and stout appearance evoke an earlier modernity, akin to Behrens' or Wright's early work. In contrast with its demure outward appearance, its interior was continually updated in step with state of the art developments in recording technology.
Over the years it was home to the SWF Symphonic Orchestra, played a large role in the Donaueschingen festival, and was the site of numerous concerts and premieres by composers such as Benjamin Britten, Pierre Boulez, Paul Hindemith, Luigi Nono, Karlheinz Stockhausen and Igor Strawinsky. Despite its rich history, the building is scheduled to be demolished in 2025, with luxury apartment units projected in its place.
I was invited, along with a group of students and professors from the Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design and the Karlsruhe University of Music, to bid an artistic farewell to the studio. Together with visiting professor Gerriet K. Sharma, I developed a cycle of three performative interventions that would allow the space to speak for itself one last time. Each performance follows a graphic/text score that provides instructions on how to interact and speak with the studio. All the recordings took place in October 2023 and represent the final ones to have been made in the Hans-Rosbaud Studio.
Broadcast on SWR Kultur in JetztMusik, editor Michael Rebhahn
Listen to the radio programme here (Impromptus [...] start at 35:58), videos below
Acoustic Mapping, for four performers and tools, 11'17"
Dieser Raum Wird Abgerissen, for three performers and voice, 4'01"
In Conversation With, for two performers and four loudpeakers, 6'26"
Management team: Prof Markus Hechtle - Toygun Kirali (Karlsruhe University of Music), Ilja Vincent Morgenstern - Prof. Gerriet K. Sharma (Karlsruhe University of Arts and Design)
Video: Luise Peschko, Tibor Pilz, Yaël Kolb
Sound Engineering: Toygun Kirali, Wolfgang Rein
Photo: Philip Lawall
