robots/non/robots

In robots/non/robots collaborators Mouse on Mars, Ensemble Musikfabrik and conductor André de Ridder explore the no man’s land between electronic dance music and contemporary music. Mouse on Mars is a German electronic music collective made up of

Jan St. Werner and Andi Toma. Their music is typified by an enormous stylistic diversity, ranging from nightclub house to avant-garde sounds, and by a taste for unexpected collaborations. Both musicians are autodidacts and share a deep fascination with acoustic science and philosophical problems. This preoccupation shines through in the pieces they perform in this concert: De Umbris Idearum… The Acousmatic Memory Palace (2016) and Paeanumnion (2011).

The character of their music makes the members of Mouse on Mars interesting collaborative partners for a new music collective like Ensemble Musikfabrik. The Cologne-based ensemble approached Mouse on Mars in 2011 about a joint jubilee concert, intended to reflect on 25 years of the Cologne Philharmonie. The result was Paeanumnion (2011). The title is purposefully cryptic. ‘Paean’ in Greek refers to a triumphal song used to give thanks to a higher power. In Paeanumnion, electronica performed live by Mouse on Mars is combined with acoustic instruments. Mouse on Mars do not simply stay behind the decks, they also occasionally play guitars and sing, with the vocals distorted digitally. Although the composition is varied, Paeanumnion is dominated by a sense of light, inspiration and celebration.

De Umbris Idearum… The Acousmatic Memory Palace represents a second jubilee collaboration, this time marking 25 years of Ensemble Musikfabrik’s existence. This piece has a completely different character to Paeanumnion. The composition is an ode to the Groβe Sendesaal (Concert Hall of the West German Radio) in Cologne, where the piece was premiered. The mystical piece begins with electronic sounds in total darkness, pointing to the ‘acousmatic’ aspect in the subtitle which refers to the fact that the origin of sound is invisible. The use of computer controlled robot musicians (Moritz Simon Geist, Sonic Robots) underlines this alienation between sound and its source. Light installations that respond to the music also form part of the piece.