Category: Symphonic / Orchestral , Recordings
With Stefan Blum (metal percussion) / David C. Panzl (wood percussion) Gabriel Venzago (conductor) / Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra - WOOD & METAL are two antagonistic worlds. Wood stands for the organic world. Wood is alive. Originating from solar energy, the use of wood is still a cycle of nature. Wood is the motor of our living ecosystem. Wood is intrinsically linked to the tree. Roots and bark are used to produce medicinal substances. Wood can be easily extracted from the earth's surface. Civilisation began destroying the planetary ecosystem thousands of years ago with "deforestation".
Metal stands as a symbol for the inorganic world. With the use of metal - which presupposed fire - a liberation from naturalness was initiated.
WOOD AND METAL are symbolised in two different percussion concerts. David Panzl built a setup from wooden materials ranging from buzzwood to elm bells. Stefan Blum collected "scrap metal" from rubbish dumps and arranged all the metallic colours of modern percussion around this "scrap".
Movements: SECRET OF TREES / GEHEIMNIS DER BÄUME. Concerto for percussion & orchestra
1: I: ELM TREE / DIE ULME
2: II: MINIATURES ROOTS – TRUNK – LEAFES CROWN / WURZELN – STAMM – BLÄTTERKRONE
3: III: THE SPRUCE / DIE FICHTE
MACHINE WORLDS / MASCHINENWELTEN Concerto for scrap metal & orchestra
4: I: THE MACHINE
5: II: GOTHAM CAVE
6: III: TINGUELY – THE FREEDOM OF MOTION
Duration: 65:08
Publisher of notes/sheet music: Ries & Erler Berlin , Beide Percussion Concertos sind im Musikverlag Ries & Erler / Berlin erschienen. , 2022
Introduction: WOOD & METAL, - two antagonistic worlds.
Wood stands (especially in the Asian 5-element teachings) for the organic world. Wood is alive. Originating from solar energy, wood use is still a cycle of nature today. Wood is the motor of our living ecosystem. Due to its individual grain, each piece is a unique specimen of life. Wood binds carbon dioxide and has a positive effect on the climate.
Wood is intrinsically linked to the tree. Roots and bark are used to produce medicinal substances. Wood can be easily extracted from the earth's surface. The destruction of the planetary ecosystem by civilisation began thousands of years ago with "deforestation".
Metal stands as a symbol for the inorganic world. 80% of the chemical elements are metals. They originate from huge geological or astronomical periods. The use of metal - which presupposed fire - ushered in a liberation from naturalness, which is why people liked to speak of the Bronze Age or Iron Age as epochs of progress with weapons and tools. The struggle for precious metals such as gold and silver were driving forces in history. Metals are difficult to extract from inside mountains and mines. They are considered indestructible and can always be rejuvenated to their original state by fire in the smelting process.
The antagonists WOOD AND METAL are symbolised on this CD in two essentially different percussion concerts. David Panzl built his own setup from wooden materials ranging from buzzwood to elm bells. Stefan Blum collected "scrap metal" from rubbish dumps and arranged all the metallic colours of modern percussion around this "scrap".
The concert SECRET OF TREES / GEHEIMNIS DER BÄUME, is dedicated to David C. Panzl, who premiered it on 23 June 2017 with the Philharmonie Bad Reichenhall (cond.: Wolfgang Lischke). The first movements are inspired by the essence of two trees, the elm and the spruce. The middle movement consists of miniatures that symbolise the three energy fields of the tree: Roots - Trunk - Crown of Leaves.
Trees with their age of up to many thousands of years live in a different temporality than humans. They were often worshipped as gods or were the seat of deities. The archetype of the tree is its mythical-religious connection between heaven (crown) and earth (roots). The tree is thus a mediator between the material and spiritual worlds.
MACHINE WORLDS. Concerto for Scrap Metal, Percussion & Orchestra is dedicated to Stefan Blum, who premiered it on 15 January 2018 with the Augsburg Philharmonic (cond.: Domonkos Héja).
The metal machine is a man-made tool, an artificial device, a device with parts that are moved by a drive system. However, machines have long since reached complexities and dimensions that have made them the antagonist of man. While man as a living and organic being still remains in the context of nature, machine & mechanics (then also automata and robots) increasingly represent the lifeless, inorganic and dead: the machine as a soulless nightmare. This dialectic of "man-machine", in addition to films such as "Batman-Gotham City" or "Metropolis", has also inspired the visual arts phantasmagorically, - from Duchamp, HR Giger to Jean Tinguely and his machine sculptures.
The second movement is dedicated to the grey, rainy and desolate underworld place "Gotham", a mixture of real New York and Batman fantasy. There live the outcasts and the damned of the working world, mentally ill, in the cellars of prisons and asylums.
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As a follow-up to the drum concerts, the two performers have recorded solo works on this CD in order to present the variety of sounds of the extraordinary setups. Stefan Blum was inspired by the underworld of "Gotham City" - David C. Panzl, who also plays several Japanese Daiko drums in his setup, performs scenes of winter in the playing traditions of Japanese theatre.
Records: WERGO WER 5128 Distribution: Naxos, 2022
Performers on recording: David Christopher Panzl, percussion
Nürnberger Symphoniker / Nuremberg Symphony Orchestra. Conductor: Gabriel Venzago
Ersteinspielungen / First recordings
Recordings:
14.-21. Dezember 2021 in Nürnberg / Musiksaal der Nürnberger Symphoniker
Recording: Pegasus Audio (Berlin) mit Florian B. Schmidt, Aki Matusch, Christoph Binner. Editing & Mix: Florian B. Schmidt
