Jan St. Werner and Dessner brothers, Glottal Wolpertinger, Romantso, Athens, documenta 14, photo: Stathis Mamalakis
Jan St. Werner and Dessner brothers, Glottal Wolpertinger, Romantso, Athens, documenta 14, photo: Stathis Mamalakis
Glottal Wolpertinger (multi-fragmented composition, 2017)
Jan St. Werner, composition, computer
Aaron Dessner, guitar
Bryce Dessner, prerecorded guitar
Glottal Wolpertinger deconstructs the principle of the musical drone, the timelessly dense, continuously spreading mass of sound, and uses idiosyncratic, abrupt movements to break with the traditional object character of music. For the work, eight microtonally tuned feedback channels are broadcast via the documenta 14 Radio Program for a period of ten weeks. On July 6, 2017, the feedback channels converge with each other during a performance with guitarists Aaron and Bryce Dessner in Athens. The eight compositional fragments each consist of a continuously modulated feedback channel based on a certain harmony. The feedback channels resonate at the tuning frequencies of 44 Hz, 133 Hz, 339 Hz, 527 Hz, 826 Hz, 1014 Hz, 1552 Hz, 1889 Hz, 2.3 kHz, 4.6 kHz, 7.15 kHz, 10.14 kHz, 14.873 kHz, and 29.45 kHz. The spatial configuration of these frequencies inside the Romantso space result in oscillations, binaural pulses, and sound artifacts that become more or less palpable during the course of the performance depending on the position of the listener. In this way traditional techniques of orientation in a musical experience are pushed beyond the limits of comprehension.
Previous broadcasts: June 21, 2017, 24:00 (UTC+2) and July 1, 2017, 24:00 (UTC+2).
