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21/11/2012

ECM - A Cultural Archaeology

Haus der Kunst, Munich

Founded in 1969 by legendary producer Manfred Eicher at a moment when the status of contemporary music was being redefined across all genres, ECM (Edition of Contemporary Music) aimed to bring jazz, improvised, and written music out of the studio and into the world. Acoustically rich and transparent, ECM's productions set new standards in sonic complexity.

Eicher's productions recorded some of the world's most extraordinary music and brought sound to a new dimension of spatial definition that set the label apart from its peers. ECM's enormous stable of artists includes Keith Jarrett, Chick Corea, Carla Bley, Meredith Monk, Marion Brown, Codona, and the Art
Ensemble of Chicago, along with music from the New Series by composers from Perotin and Machaut to Arvo Pärt, György Kurtág,
Giya Kancheli, Heinz Holliger, Luciano Berio, Steve Reich, and Heiner Goebbels - performed by musicians including Gidon Kremer, Dennis Russell Davies, Kim Kashkashian, Thomas Demenga, the Keller Quartet, András Schiff, the Hilliard Ensemble, and many others. As a result, ECM's high standards of quality, clarity, and freshness remain points of reference in the musical world today. Gertrude Stein's instruction, "think of your ears as eyes", expresses what constitutes the label's unique language, which Manfred Eicher has continued to expand over the years.

Moving images and sound
The exhibition is designed as a sensorial field where photographic, sonic, filmic, typographic formats and installation are intermingled. This method of display pays tribute to ECM's overall achievement: its interdisciplinary and cross-cultural approach in which the complex relationship between sound and image finds its place, as do poetry and contemporary art.
One of the exhibition's central pieces is "See the Music" by Theodor Kotulla. Made in 1971, the film eventually fell into oblivion, but is now being shown for the first time in many years. The camera accompanies Marion Brown (alto saxophone), Leo Smith trumpet), Manfred Eicher (bass), Fred Braceful (percussion), and Thomas Stöwsand (cello, bassoon) during rehearsals and preparations for a concert; Marion Brown's intricately composed improvisations; and an interview in which Brown and Smith discuss the fundamental elements of creative music. The closing scene of the musicians walking through the English Garden also makes the film a historical document on Munich as an avant-garde hub.
Commissioned by Haus der Kunst, the Otolith Group developed a video essay researching the relationship between film and sound.
This video is inspired by archival material in relation to the three albums that Codona (Don Cherry, Collin Walcott, and Nana Vasconcelos) recorded with ECM between 1978 and 1982. The Otolith Group (Anjalika Sagar and Kodwo Eshun) derives its name from otolith, i.e. "ear stones". These small anatomical particles in the inner ear, responsible for balance and orientation, symbolize the shifts in attention the artists' collective focuses upon.
One film in the "Four American Composers" series by Peter Greenaway (1983) is dedicated to the singer, performer, dancer, and choreographer Meredith Monk, who realized her first recordings with ECM. Greenaway captured a seminal performance of "Dolmen Music" in which Monk's theatrical-musical approach is particularly apparent, as is her conviction that sounds can simultaneously be futuristic and archaic.

In trustful cooperation with Jean-Luc Godard, Manfred Eicher worked on the soundtrack for the filmmaker's movie "Nouvelle Vague", the complete version of which was later released by ECM. "When you hear the soundtrack of my film without seeing the images, it is even better," Godard once remarked. This audio version, supplemented in the exhibition with film stills and expanded into an installation, renders the plot – with its transparent thread between objects and people – just as tangible as do images.

Films by Stan Douglas ("Hors-champs", 1992) and Anri Sala ("Long Sorrow", 2005, with saxophonist Jemeel Moondoc) complement the exhibition with central positions in contemporary art that explore the nexus between free jazz and its cultural political and social transatlantic realities as well as the specific ways of its media representation in European television.

Studio photography and sound
Included in the exhibition is photographic documentation by photographers such as Deborah Feingold, Roberto Masotti, Ralph Quinke, Dieter Rehm, Andreas Raggenbass, and Takashi Itoh, among others who have closely followed the musicians during recording sessions, concerts, and performances. Particular rarities are the photographs shot in 1980 in New York during the recording of Steve Reich's "Octet. Music for a Large Ensemble". The original black-and-white prints depict the musicians both during their recording, and when they were listening to it. Deborah Feingold thus provides unique insight into the entire recording process and the moods that arise during the listening phase.

In 1978, ECM released the "Sun Bear Concerts". The original ten LPs in this box contained the complete recordings of five improvisation concerts the pianist Keith Jarrett gave in Japan in 1978. Takashi Itoh photographed the artist's expressive facial expressions and unusual body gestures - thereby documenting the nature of the creative process in images.

ECM usually published the documentary photography inside the album booklets; only rarely did portraits of musicians appear on album covers.

Graphic design and sound
ECM used graphic design with as much originality as it employed photography. Typefaces, drawings, watercolors, and collages illustrate many of the label's covers, which contain as little information as possible and are often di- or monochromatic. This minimalism results from a desire to stand out in an environment in which excessive information generates noise, and is the norm. With graphics, the covers reflect a high respect for the calm for which ECM is esteemed.

Represented in the show is the graphic designer Barbara Wojirsch, who worked for ECM from the early 1970s to mid-1990s, and photographer Dieter Rehm, whose experimental images have appeared on many album covers.

"ECM – A Cultural Archaeology" is Okwui Enwezor's first presentation for Haus der Kunst. Co-curator is Markus Müller, Berlin, project assistant is Anna Schneider, Munich. Published by Prestel Verlag, the catalog includes contributions by Diedrich Diederichsen, Okwui Enwezor, Kodwo Eshun, Renée Green, Kenny Inaoka, Steve Lake, Markus Müller, Wolfgang Sandner, and Jürg Stenzl.

The exhibition is accompanied by a series of concerts, starting with the German premiere of Arvo Pärt's "Adam's Lament" on October, 13 at Herkulessaal der Residenz, Munich. Further details about concerts at Haus der Kunst will follow.

The media partner for this exhibition is Bayern 2

Programme (complete on the web site)

Tarkovsky Quartet
Concert Friday, 23.11, 8 pm
The concert series opens with the French-German quartet formed by pianist-composer François Couturier to pay homage to filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky.

Anouar Brahem Quartet
Concert Saturday, 24.11, 8 pm
Tunisian oud master Anouar Brahem’s compositions call upon the musical traditions and sound colors of the Middle East and the improvisational flexibility of jazz-inspired Western players.

Enrico Rava Quintet
Concert Sunday, 25.11, 8 pm
The Enrico Rava Quintet draws on all of jazz’s history in the course of its improvisations.

Meredith Monk & Katie Geissinger
Concert Friday, 14.12, 8 pm
The inventive composer, singer, and interdisciplinary performer Meredith Monk has been making unprecedented music on ECM for more than 30 years, beginning with the landmark "Dolmen Music".

Concerts by Thomas and Patrick Demenga / Alexei Lubimov
Concert Saturday, 15.12, 8 pm
Thomas and Patrick Demenga: Repertoire to include works by Demenga, Barrière, Paganini and Bach; Alexei Lubimov: Music of Claude Debussy

Vera Kappeler and Peter Conradin Zumthor
Concert Friday, 04.01, 8 pm
A chance to preview some ECM music of the future: Swiss musicians Vera Kappeler and Peter Conradin Zumthor will record for the label in spring 2013.

András Schiff
Concert Saturday, 05.01, 8 pm
Hungarian pianist András Schiff’s peerless interpretations of Johann Sebastian Bach are among the marvels of classical music performance.

Nik Bärtsch's Ronin
Concert Thursday, 10.01, 8 pm
This is the Munich debut of the new stripped-down Ronin quartet, led by Swiss pianist and music philosopher Nik Bärtsch.

Evan Parker Electro-Acoustic Quartet / Food
Concert Friday, 11.01, 8 pm
The splinter group from Evan Parker’s malleable Electro-Acoustic Ensemble is comprised of two duos whose radical music has had an impact on the development of free improvisation.

Tim Berne Snakeoil
Concert Saturday, 12.01, 8 pm
New York saxophonist Tim Berne’s complex pieces for his band Snakeoil propel the players down labyrinthine corridors with new challenges looming around every corner.

Anja Lechner / Christian Reiner
Concert Saturday, 26.01, 8 pm
Armenian composer Tigran Mansurian once described Anja Lechner’s cello as "an open window, welcoming all pure sounds of music coming from all corners of the world." Lechner’s solo recital is followed by Vienna-born actor and voice artist Christian Reiner reading from the late poems, the "Turmgedichte", of Friedrich Hölderlin.

Gidon Kremer, Giedre Dirvanauskaite and Daniil Grishin
Concert Sunday, 27.01, 8 pm
The great Latvian violinist Gidon Kremer appears with Lithuanian cellist Giedre Dirvanauskaite and Russian violist Daniil Grishin.

Stefano Battaglia Trio
Concert Friday, 01.02, 8 pm
Italian pianist Stefano Battaglia is a jazz musician whose canvas is bigger than jazz. A postmodernist with classical priorities, he draws inspiration from all corners of the historical-cultural field.

Charles Lloyd & Jason Moran
Concert Saturday, 02.02, 8 pm
A release concert for “Hagar’s Song”, first duo album by veteran saxophonist Charles Lloyd and multiple prizewinning pianist Jason Moran.

Tomasz Stanko New York Quartet
Concert Saturday, 09.02, 8 pm
A Munich premiere for trumpeter Tomasz Stanko’s New York Quartet and for music written for the new album "Wisława", dedicated to the memory of the great Polish poet Wisława Szymborska, who died in February 2012.

Jan Garbarek and the Hilliard Ensemble
Concert Monday, 11.02, 8 pm
A twentieth anniversary concert by one of ECM’s most inspired amalgamations concludes the Haus der Kunst concert series.

"ECM – A Cultural Archaeology": Concert Series
Concert series
The first major exhibition on the legendary Munich-based record label ECM will be accompanied by a concert series featuring renowned performers. MORE

"ECM – A Cultural Archaeology": Film screenings
Film screening
Over the past four decades, ECM’s music has become an important resource for contemporary cinema. Label founder Manfred Eicher has immersed himself into film and collaborated extensively with filmmakers especially Jean-Luc Godard and Theo Angelopoulos. MORE

Jean-Luc Godard: "Nouvelle Vague"
Film screening

Jean-Luc Godard: "Eloge de l’amour"
Film screening

Public tour / English
→ Friday, 23.11, 6:30 pm
→ Friday, 14.12, 6:30 pm
→ Friday, 04.01.13, 6:30 pm

Public tour / German
→ Saturday, 24.11, 2 pm
→ Saturday, 24.11, 2 pm
→ Saturday, 01.12, 2 pm

Art cocktail / German
→ Thursday, 29.11, 7 pm

Family outing / German
→ Saturday, 15.12, 2 pm
→ Saturday, 19.01.13, 2 pm
→ Saturday, 02.02.13, 2 pm

Kids listen in / German
→ Monday, 17.12, 4:30 pm
→ Monday, 07.01.13, 4:30 pm
→ Friday, 01.02.13, 4:30 pm

Art after work / German
→ Thursday, 24.01.13, 7:30 pm

Image: Meredith Monk & Vocal Ensemble (clockwise from left: Robert Een, Meredith Monk, Monica Solem, Andrea Goodman, Paul Langland) "Dolmen Music". Photo: Johan Elbers

Dr. Elena Heitsch
presse@hausderkunst.de
+49 89 21127 115
+49 89 21127 157 Fax

Press Viewing Thursday, November 22, 2012, 11 am

Opening on Thursday, 22.11, 7 pm
Welcome & introduction
Okwui Enwezor, director und curator of the exhibition
Manfred Eicher, ECM Records

Haus der Kunst
Prinzregentenstraße 1 - 80538 Munich

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