In August 2023, as part of a collective field recording project,* I found myself in a beautiful acoustic situation.
On the walkway over the 200m high transmitter tower on Buková hora, in the hilly landscape of the České středohoří between Ústí nad Labem and Děčín, a strong wind played several metal pipes to the sound of a kind of C minor.
It blew so hard that it made even the strings of our brought concert harp ring out into unearthly harmonies reminiscent of clusters of sine tones on a synthesizer.
In the staircase tube of the tower, I subsequently experimented with a natural French horn (without mechanics, playing an aliquot series in D).
During the recording, from the Elbe valley far below us, the sound of a siren test on a lower g# note, which I know intimately from another previous project,** rang out.
* Stanice Nula / Station Zero - collaboration of Topos Kolektiv and Czech Radio, 2023
** Hudba k siréně / Music for Sirens - collaboration between the Berg Orchestra and the Czech Radio, 2019
The short piece In D: Echoes of Beech Mountain was originally sketched without any conscious specific inspiration (and also in a different key), but during its development I realized the obvious connection with the situation described and I subsequently modified the composition.
Premiered June 1, 2024, DOX+ Prague, written for Prague Spring festival, Klangforum Wien, cond. by Enno Poppe.
Ensemble: 1.1.1.1 - 1.0.1.0 - 1 Perc. - Pno. - 1.1.1.1.1