New Music By Karlheinz Essl

First encounter between the organist Jeremy Joseph and the composer Karlheinz Essl on his 0-COAST modular synth on 2 December 2024. We met in St. Ursula, a beautiful baroque church in Vienna which houses three fine organs, one of which - a sublime 7-rank Italian instrument from the 18th century - is used on this track. There were no preconceived musical ideas or any kind of preparatory sketches for the improvisation. It is simply an atmospheric late-night ‘jam session’ recorded in the darkness of the sanctuary. It captures us getting to know each other, finding one another and it illustrates the process of musical consolidation through improvisation. https://essl.at/div/becoming-one.html

Soundtrack for a stop-motion movie by Hervé Bacquet, performed on a 0-COAST modular synthesizer. Produced at Studio kHz 2024. Watch the film: https://youtu.be/1kp6zm9oWSY

V.A.N.N. (Viewing A Nasty Neigbourhood) - BINAURAL by Karlheinz Essl

In dieser Folge des Podcasts "Warum Klassik?" porträtiert Leo Eröd den Composer/Performer Karlheinz Essl, der nicht nur die Grenzen zwischen den Kunstdisziplinen, sondern auch die Grenze zwischen Komponist und Interpret aufhebt. Veröffentlicht am 23.10.2024. Der vollständige Beitrag kann hier abgerufen werden: https://sound.orf.at/podcast/oe1/warum-klassik/punk-und-sprayer Webfassung: https://essl.at/bibliogr/essl_warum-klassik.html

Binaural rendering of a 6-channel version from 2017 with REAPER and dearVR (Studio kHz, 18 Oct 2024). Generative sound environment for an art installation by Beat Zoder, written in MaxMSP. In 2006, Swiss artist Beat Zoderer and Austrian composer Karlheinz Essl were commissioned to create a collaborative work for the music festival Stanser Musiktage. In an abandoned repository situated in the heart of the Swiss alps, both artists were setting up a room installation made of sewer pipes. Those plastic parts of different lengths were equipped with funnel speakers driven by a customized computer program written in MaxMSP by Karlheinz Essl. Utilizing realtime composition algorithms which the composers develops since 1985, his software created an ever-changing sonic environment which never repeated itself. Seen from outside, the structure resembled a giant jackstraw heap which invited the public to explore the space. Sounds that were projected from the loudspeakers through the pipes commuted through the air, creat

Binaural production - listen with headphones! In tempore belli... Generative soundscape based on a two-dimensional random walk between four binaural soundscapes recorded in Mantua, Italy between September 10-14, 2024: 1) A walk through the historical center of Mantua 2) A gelataria with the best ice cream in town 3) Inside the Basilica di Sant'Andrea 4) A rehearsal of the ensemble "nova ars cantandi" in the Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara, singing "Dona Nobis Pacem" from an unknown mass by Antonio Nola (1642-1715). Released: Sep 23rd, 2024 Info: https://essl.at/works/HEAD.html

Binaural production - listen with headphones! Generative soundscape based on a two-dimensional random walk between four binaural soundscapes recorded in Krems, Horn and Gars/Kamp between August 31st and September 1st, 2024. Dedicated to my friend Gerhard Eckel: 1) At the Taffa creek near Horn 2) Gerhard Eckel and Jack Hauser performing under a resonant bridge 3) A train ride along the river Kamp 4) Sound from MONOCOLOR's audio-visual installation SCREEN—SPACE at the NÖ Landesgalerie Krems Released: Sep 2nd, 2024 https://essl.at/works/HEAD.html

Binaural production - listen with headphones! Generative soundscape based on a two-dimensional random walk between four binaural soundscapes recorded at various locations of Salzburg in July 2024: 1) Mirabell Garden with church bells ringing at noon 2) On the shore of the lake St. Wolfgang 3) In the pedestrian zone of the city center of Salzburg 4) The main train station of Salzburg Released: August 4th, 2024 Info: https://essl.at/works/HEAD.html

Sound performance with a MakeNoise MATH function generator controlling the VCO and VCF of a Doepfer DARK ENERGY synthesizer. Performed live at Studio kHz on July 25th, 2024. Have a look at at the video: https://youtu.be/M-QavH4j5xk

Binaural production - listen with headphones! Generative soundscape based on a two-dimensional random walk between four binaural soundscapes recorded in Gars/Kamp between July 5th and 6th, 2024: 1) the audience at the opening of the "Temple of Sound" in Gars, the first museum for electroacoustic music 2) Karlheinz Essl's "Gesualdo-Fragmente", performed there 3) forest next to a country road 4) the river Kamp flowing through the city of Gars Released: July 7th, 2024 Info: https://essl.at/works/HEAD.html

Excerpt of a live performance on Wed 12 June 2024 at the Jesuit Church in Vienna during a rehearsal for the world première of "Verkündigung" on June 26th, 2024. Performed on an 0-COAST modular synth played through a BOSE L1 speaker. https://essl.at/works/verkuendigung.html

Binaural production - listen with headphones! Generative soundscape based on a two-dimensional random walk between four binaural soundscapes recorded at the Volkskundemuseum Vienna (the former Schönborn Palace) on June 4, 2024 during the Vienna Festival project "Haus der Republik": 1) in the garden 2) Cider bar in the courtyard 3) Walking through the exhibition 4) People walking up the main staircase Released: June 5th, 2024 Info: https://essl.at/works/HEAD.html

Binaural production - listen with headphones! Generative soundscape based on a two-dimensional random walk between four binaural soundscapes recorded at the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna (mdw) on 24 May 2024 before and during a concert of Luigi Nono's last compositions: 1) setup in the library 2) sound check 3) excerpts from "Lontananza" for violin and tape feat. Youngseo Kim and Karlheinz Essl 4) excerpts from "Hay que caminar soñando" for two violins feat. Youngseo Kim and Reina Yoshioka

Free improvisation on a MakeNoise 0-COAST modular synthesizer controlled by a Doepfer A-174-4 joystick. Performed live at Studio kHz on May 9th, 2024. No edits, no overdubs, no MIDI, no sequencer, no arpeggiator - just manual control in real time! https://www.essl.at/works/coastlines.html

Generative soundscape based on a two-dimensional random walk between four binaural soundscapes recorded in Dresden (Germany) in April 2024: 1) People inside the Frauenkirche 2) Café Algarotti of the famous Gemäldegalerie 3) The main station of Dresden 4) At the Albertinum art museum where refugees meet and kids play table tennis Released: April 24, 2024 Info: https://essl.at/works/HEAD.html

The Maelstrom is a gigantic vortex in the North Sea, described by Edgar Allan Poe in his short story "A Descent into the Maelstrom" (published in 1841). Its power is so great that it can suck in even large ships and crush them to pulp. For my piece, I constructed a kind of Maelstrom mechanism with Granular Synthesis, written in MaxMSP. It pulverizes sounds and recombines them into new sonic structures that can be controlled during a live performance. The underlying sound material comes from an improvisation on my MakeNoise 0-COAST modular synth, which is also used as a sound device in this piece. https://essl.at/works/maelstrom.html The premiere took place on March 22, 2024 during my portrait concert at Bilkent University in Ankara, Turkey, performed by myself.

Generative soundscape based on a two-dimensional random walk between four binaural soundscapes recorded in Monte (Madeira) on February 20th, 2024: 1) Kids playing Futebol 2) Monte Toboggan sleigh ride 3) Japanese pond in the Monte Palace Tropical Garden 4) Gardener at work in the park Info: https://essl.at/works/HEAD.html

Free improvisation on a Make Noise 0-coast analog synth, patched as a generative non-linear system. No edits, no overdubs, no MIDI, no sequencer, no arpeggiator - only manual control in real time! Recorded live at Studio kHz on 7 Mar 2024 in preparation to my solo performance at Alte Schmiede the next day. Filmed with iPhone 15, sound recorded with Zoom F3. Produced in REAPER (Ozone Imager, BREVERB)

Free improvisation on a MakeNoise 0-COAST. Performed live at Studio kHz on Feb 27, 2024. No MIDI, no sequencer, no overdubs, no edits. Part of the work-in-progress "Coastlines" (2020 ff.): https://essl.at/works/coastlines.html

Im Gespräch mit der transArt Künstlerin Astrid Rieder - aufgenommen am 11.11.2023 im Kunstraum Ewigkeitsgasse in Wien - spreche ich über einige zentrale Themen in meinem künstlerischen Schaffen: • Wie mich die deutsche Krautrocktruppe CAN zu Karlheinz Stockhausen und zur elektronischen Musik geführt hat. • Über die Dialektik von Ordnung und Zufall. • Die Faszination chaotischer Systeme, die sich mit modularen Analogsynthesizern so herrlich modellieren lassen. • Warum Improvisation und Komposition zwei unterschiedliche Paar Schuhe sind. Transkript: https://essl.at/bibliogr/essl-rieder_2.html