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Nederlands

Actress X Stockhausen SIN {X} II

Actress, Nederlands Kamerkoor

The British artist Actress (alias of Darren Cunningham) has been acclaimed all over the world for his progressive, experimental techno. The Holland Festival has commissioned him to write a new composition for voice, piano, artificial intelligence and electronics. Inspired by Stockhausen’s WELT-PARLAMENT (1995), which is also being performed as part of aus LICHT. The Nederlands Kamerkoor is performing both the original in aus LICHT and this 21st-century version. Stockhausen’s ‘world parliament’ assembled in a dome on a skyscraper; this time (real) politicians are in the ‘cloud’, discussing love. Their voices are the sound network which Cunningham and the ‘AI sprite’ Young Paint are going to manipulate live. 'The show is played like a semi-staged opera. […] It is a fascinating, if short, piece of theatre, but Actress rarely imposes himself on the work. A screen behind him shows a computer-generated film featuring a chrome-plated robot version of Actress at work, which suggests he is slowly transforming himself into a Kraftwerk-style cyborg.' - The Guardian ★★★★ Read the full review here. download the programme book

dates

Fri June 14 2019 8:30 PM

information

  • Duration of performance unknown (geen pauze)

‘When I first heard Stockhausen’s music, a world opened up to me. It was as if the definition of what music could be was stretched.’ During a panel interview at Amsterdam Dance Event, the British producer Darren Cunningham unequivocally stated

‘When I first heard Stockhausen’s music, a world opened up to me. It was as if the definition of what music could be was stretched.’ During a panel interview at Amsterdam Dance Event, the British producer Darren Cunningham unequivocally stated

that the German composer Karlheinz Stockhausen was of great importance to his own musical development. Working under the pseudonym Actress, Cunningham pushes musical boundaries in techno with international success, and it was Stockhausen who, he claims, in some sense showed him the way off the beaten track.

In his work he pushes boundaries between genres and styles and reveals ambitions which run over into contemporary classical music. He has previously worked with the London Contemporary Orchestra and has also collaborated on a contemporary response to Steve Reich’s Different Trains (1988). He also works with popular artists such as Radiohead, Damon Albarn and Kasabian. Holland Festival commissioned him to compose a piece for voice, piano and electronics, inspired by one of Stockhausen’s works. 

Cunningham himself chose WELT-PARLAMENT, the first scene from the opera Mittwoch aus Licht, due to his wish to work with a choir some day and the theatrical elements of the piece. In Welt-Parlament, situated in a glass dome above a skyscraper high above the clouds, (choir) members of a ‘world parliament’ are summoned together by the ‘world president’ to discuss important issues, in particular the meaning of the word ‘love’.

Cunningham sees WELT-PARLAMENT as an inspiration on a conceptual level for a new composition. His work showcases voices and electronics. The libretto is based on a debate specially conducted for this project, in which parliamentarians discuss love. Their texts and voices also form the input for the artificial intelligence Actress uses. This results in a completely new composition lasting one hour, for which Welt-Parlament was the inspiration.

The composition is performed by pianist Vanessa Benelli Mosell and the Nederlands Kamerkoor, which can also be heard in aus LICHT, in which the original Welt-Parlament is performed. Actress X Stockhausen SIN {X} II, a composition commissioned by Holland Festival, is to have its world premiere in May with co-commissioner the Southbank Centre in London and it is Actress’s debut at Holland Festival.

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