Musikfabrik

Sarah Nemtsov: New works from the SEPHIROT cycle

for the Musikfabrik

 

G’VURAH

for amplified double bass solo with effect pedals ^WP

 

BINAH, CHOCHMAH

for bass clarinet and lupophone & turntables ^WP

 

YESOD

for piccolo flute and percussion ^WP

 

NETZACH

installation for glass cube and tape ^WP

 

TIPHERET

for electric violin solo with effect pedals, thunder sheet, tape and transducer ^WP

 

HOD

for trumpet in Bb, horn and tuba ^WP

 

DA’AT

for electric guitar solo ^WP

 

Yaron Deutsch, electric guitar

 

Ensemble Musikfabrik

Helen Bledsoe, piccolo flute
Christine Chapman, horn
Marco Blaauw, trumpet
Maxime Morel, tuba
Carl Rosman, bass clarinet
Martin Bliggenstorfer, lupophone
Dirk Rothbrust, drums
Yaron Deutsch, electric guitar
Hannah Weirich, electric violin/turntables
Florentin Ginot, double bass
Paul Jeukendrup, sound direction

 

 

The ten sephirot are an essential part of Jewish mysticism as a symbol of the connection between the divine and the human being. They represent the different qualities and forces that are part of life and are connected to each other in the Kabbalistic tree of life. ‘What fundamentally fascinates me about this image is that all the sephira correspond to each other; it is a network, a structure that supports itself through connections or interconnectedness and finds a balance.’ Sarah Nemtsov’s very subjective examination of the contradictory interpretations of the Sephirot is also a very personal attribution and dedication to the musicians at Musikfabrik.

 

»Of course it is presumptuous to «set cabbalistic concepts to music”. Impossible. It was a subjective approach–so I also countered things or asked questions. You don’t have to have any knowledge of Kabbalah to listen to or »understand« the pieces. In the end, they are just sounds. That’s the most important thing. The concepts were inspiration for me personally, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to write these works in this way.

In view of the increasingly catastrophic state of the world, all the destruction and violence–you can think of Walter Benjamin’s Angel of History at this time–this artistic endeavour was perhaps also a consolation or a retreat or a support. (If only.)” Sarah Nemtsov