Hannes Lingens
Play
JAPAN HITORRI RECORDS 963 C.D. (2023)
After 2021’s “Music for Strings” (Edition Wandelweiser Records), German composer Hannes Lingens felt that this release was seen by some as an artistic statement that was set in stone. He however, thought otherwise. Instead he reasoned, it could be perceived as one of many variations on a theme and that its compositional structure could also differ given the number and backgrounds of performers chosen for the task. That’s clearly why its follow-up “Play” (using 100 instructional cards a la Eno’s “Oblique Strategies”…) can be experienced in two variations, “Jerusalem” and “Paris”: the titles doubling up as recording locations.
The differences between the two pieces aren’t exactly a clash of chalk meeting cheese head-on, but instead reveal a more complimentary and measured scenario. “Take One” (at 25.40 mins) showcases an Israeli-based quartet where the twitchy pointillism of acoustic guitar, piano, bass clarinet and tenor sax is augmented by pockets of silence dotted around the sparse punctuation of Hannes’ solitary snare drum. Meanwhile, we find ourselves in the company of four avantists of French origin for “Take Two” (29.44). The group’s spiky mixture of Prune Bechau’s occasional teeth-on-edge baroque violin combining with Pierre-Antoine Badaroux’s suspenseful alto sax makes for some unusual twists and turns, sonically speaking, especially in and around the twenty-minute mark.
And…as for the sleeve art (c/o Michal Fuchs), that really deserves a fanfare as it’s a perfect representation of the contents within; the one supporting the many. Neat!