Sequitur XII (2009) - for harpsichord and live-electronics

Performed by Goska Isphording (harpsichord) and Karlheinz Essl (live-electronics) at NatLab Eindhoven (NL) on 10 Sep 2010. In this composition, the harpsichord is played in a highly unconventional manner. Except for the end of the piece, no keys are touched. Instead, the sound board and the lowest string of the instrument are excited in different manners. A contact microphone mounted on the sound board acts like an acoustic lense that amplifies sounds that are normally inaudible. The interaction between the harpsichordist and the live-electronics creates a kind of meta-instrument. Its novel sounds and expressions purposely avoid the typical percussive sound of the harpsichord, which is only heard at the end of the piece as a quotation. By preparing the instrument with a thin nylon thread, sustained "drone" sounds can be produced as an antitheses to the needle-sharp and rapidly decaying harpsichord attacks. Info: http://www.essl.at/works/sequitur/sequitur-12.html