Carola Bauckholt: Witten Vakuum

for two voices with vacuum cleaner

(2019)

On the aesthetic basis of Witten Vacuum

I have long been interested in suction sounds such as the gurgling of a fountain, the slurping of a drain, or the infinitely beautiful gurgling of water in grottos where wave and suction interact. In music, this sonic phenomenon has not yet been addressed. Our ordinary instruments are basically based on sound production by friction (strings…) or exhalation (voice, wind instruments…). Sucking in does not occur. Yet this aspect is part of our life, like inhaling and exhaling. While searching for an instrument that can produce sucking sounds, I discovered that with the help of the suction tube of the vacuum cleaner, which is placed at the corner of the mouth, countless novel sounds can be produced by changing the oral cavity. The modern »Silent« vacuum cleaner from Miele reduces the intrinsic noise of the vacuum cleaner. However, the connotation of the »instrument« remains.

For you: Of course, the connotation resonates and it will also be female voices (because it will probably not work well with men because of the beard growth–no man has tried it yet). But I think that also belongs in the church. It could have something latently provocative–also in the concert hall.

(Carola Bauckholt)

Carola Bauckholt (*1959 in Krefeld), after working for several years at the Krefeld Theater am Marienplatz (TAM), studied with Mauricio Kagel at the Cologne Academy of Music from 1978 to 1984. In 1985 she founded the Thürmchen Verlag with Caspar Johannes Walter, and in 1991 the Thürmchen Ensemble.

In 2013 she was elected a member of the Akademie der Künste in Berlin, and since November 2021 she has been director of the music section. In 2015, she was appointed professor of composition with a focus on contemporary music theater at the Anton Bruckner Private University in Linz, Austria. In 2020, she was elected a member of the North Rhine-Westphalian Academy of Sciences and Arts.

A central moment of Carola Bauckholt’s works is the reflection on the phenomenon of perception and understanding. Her compositions often mix elements of visual art, music theater and concert music. For this purpose, she likes to make use of noisy sounds, which are often produced by unusual means and are not incorporated into a given compositional grid, but are observed and continued in their free unfolding.

Translated with www.DeepL.com/Translator (free version)

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Carola Bauckholt: Witten Vakuum

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