2024 I Haunt Three Ghosts with the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin as part of the Mensch Musik! #8 “Zufällig-frei!” Curated by Tauschgold, Bas Wiegers, Conductor. Performed live on March 1, 2024. Performance rebroadcast on Deutschlandfunk Kultur on April 10, 2024.
From the program:
Under the direction of Dutch conductor Bas Wiegers, the Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin is once again pushing the boundaries of symphonic music by inviting artists to push the boundaries of classical performance practice – this time with works by composers who were given or denied freedom for fortuitous reasons. They are all connected by the question: When will I be free and what does freedom mean to me? At the centre of the evening is the Bach cantata “Mein Herze schwimmt im Blut” (1712), which the artist duo tauchgold has given a new, secular text. Sung by countertenor Philipp Mathmann and translated into movement by dancer and choreographer Gustavo Llano, this version will have its world premiere tonight. Is it permissible to provide a famous and venerable Bach cantata with a new text? Especially a text that transcends the given Christian context and therefore repeatedly eludes the link between the original text and the musical setting? This question was the subject of long explorations and controversial discussions between Philipp Mathmann, who initiated the project, early music specialist Professor Winfried Toll and, last but not least, tauchgold as the librettists. The result: it is not only permissible, it is perhaps even necessary, when the love of Johann Sebastian Bach’s magnificent, timeless music is accompanied by a philosophically based re-evaluation of traditional content! While the original text contemplates the themes of guilt, remorse and desperate fear of God based on the biblical story of the Pharisee and the Tax-collector, human freedom and responsibility for others is now placed at the centre: salvation is not brought about by a transcendent God or saviour, but by a developed and conscious humanity that is prepared to face its own demons.
Renée T. Coulombe
“I haunt three ghosts – invoking the sounds of composer ancestors Takemitsu, Oliveros, and Penderecki, this immersive composition uses field recordings, sampling, and extended instrumental technique in a grateful meditation on music’s power to hold us, even when everything has fallen apart.”