‘For Agnes Martin’ by Anthony Vine (winner Gaudeamus Award 2016)

Описание: Gaudeamus Muziekweek presents young music pioneers. ‘For Agnes Martin’ by Anthony Vine performed by Ensemble Modelo62. Recorded live at Theater Kikker, Utrecht, 8 September 2016.
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An aspect of Vine’s work is his fascination for the visual arts. “While I was composing I looked at many works by visual artist Agnes Martin and I read many of her texts. Her work fascinates me, but I did not realise that because of this fascination my work was becoming imbued with hers.”
“For Agnes Martin is actually very different from Martin’s own paintings, which are very pale and stern. The music turned out much more dynamic. However, there is a similarity with the single-coloured feeling of the music, which occurs in many of her paintings.”
Musically speaking, For Agnes Martin is much closer to Morton Feldman’s work. He had a fascination for the visual as well. For example, Feldman incorporated patterns of eastern carpets in his music and he was often in contact with abstract expressionist painters from New York, like Philp Guston, Mark Rothko, and Jackson Pollock.
“I am interested in Feldman, very much so” Vine says. “There is a special quotation by Feldman: “Part of my musical thinking is to have sound without a source…My work fails if anyone can say: ‘Ah, that is is a trombone, that is a horn.’ I would like the instruments to become…anonymous.’ Feldman removes touh sensitivity from an instrument and mixes the registers to obsure their identity. This causes uncertainty about the source of the sound, which is what I do in For Agnes Martin.”
Six of the seven musicians play the harmonica alongside their own instrument. Vine places the harmony of the hamonicas with the rest of the ensemble and mixes all the instruments until they become one interlaced, floating sound: “A sort of ‘totalharmonica’ emerges. Or an enlarged, over the top, blown-up harmonica.”