Additional Information
An eagerly-awaited program at the Semaine du Neuf, Montreal’s Paramirabo is also an international encounter with Musikfabrik, one of Germany’s leading new music ensembles. The joint program features the work of composers Gordon Williamson, Chris Paul Harman, Paul Frehner, Juliet Palmer and Dylan Lardelli, not to mention works by the late Pauline Oliveros and Rodney Sharman. In this context, the members of Musikfabrik have this time been constituted as a trio: oboe/English horn, horn, double bass. This encounter promises “a dark and rich palette of sound…an avant-garde experience, true to the mission of both ensembles to explore the new languages of contemporary music.” Conducted by flutist Jeffrey Stonehouse, Paramirabo is represented here by pianist Pamela Reimer, interviewed by Frédéric Cardin for PAN M 360.
PAN M 360: Musikfabrik is a legendary ensemble in contemporary music. How do you anticipate this encounter with three of its members?
Pamela Reimer: We’re looking forward to a joyful collaboration! Sharing, learning, experimenting, re-creating.
PAN M 360: How did you construct the program? Why did you choose the male and female composers?
Pamela Reimer: It was Canadian composer Gordon Williamson, now based in Hanover, who proposed this collaboration between Musikfabrik and Paramirabo. Essentially, it’s two concerts for the price of one! Three members of the Musikfabrik ensemble are touring Canada with works by New Zealand/Maori composer Dylan Lardelli, Canadian composer Juliet Palmer and Gordon Williamson. Paramirabo will also join the trio for Pauline Oliveros’ work, conceived for open instrumentation, and Vancouver’s Rodney Sharman’s duet for English horn and piano. Paramirabo will soon be leaving for Europe, and we have chosen a few pieces from our touring repertoire.
Peter Veale, cor anglais, Musikfabrik
PAN M 360: The styles represented are quite diverse. Is there a common thread running through the programming?
Pamela Reimer: Not really! It’s a feast of music from all over, for all tastes.
PAN M 360: There will be 5 creations out of the 8 pieces performed on March 11. Any interesting details about each of them before diving into listening to them at the concert?
Pamela Reimer:
JULIET PALMER: The work blur of lichens is dedicated to her grandfather, who was a lichen lover and almost blind. The work questions blurred boundaries.
DYLAN LARDELLI: The Giving Sea is a spiritual evocation of the ocean, always evolving, always transforming, with its elements of depth, density, movement and separation.
GORDON WILLIAMSON: Odd Throuple – a reference to the :English saying Odd Couple, but instead of two there are three!
The trio of instruments rarely heard together: oboe, double bass and horn.
PAUL FREHNER: Un pont sanguin – a meditation on the ‘bridge’ between us – human beings on earth – and the world ‘beyond the horizon’. The pianist plays the synthesizer, and the percussionist, the cencerros (bells) – in search of sounds that evoke meteor showers.
CHRIS PAUL HARMAN: Francisez-moi – a tribute to early French composers, writers and poets, with a few surprises! Paramirabo acknowledges the generosity of Paul Frehner and Chris Paul Harman for their musical gifts!
PAN M 360: What can you say about the piece by Pauline Oliveros, one of the great avant-garde figures of the 2nd half of the 20th century?
Pamela Reimer: The musicians of Musikfabrik proposed this piece, a work without traditional notation, and rather instructions, typical of Oliveros and her famous deep listening philosophy. Each performer chooses a single pitch, and should approach it in as many ways as possible. Approach and departure, always different. Short or long, loud or soft, dramatic or meditative, question or answer. Each iteration is unique.
Programme
Pauline Oliveros: Approaches and Departures, Appearances and Disappearances for solo, duo or ensemble (1994)
Juliet Palmer: blur of lichens* (2025) – 10′
Dylan Lardelli: The Giving Sea* (2025) – 10′
Gordon Williamson: Odd Throuple* (2025) – 10′
*Entracte*
Rodney Sharman: Remembering John Cage (2019) – 4′
Paul Frehner: Un pont sanguin* (2025) – 10′
Chris Paul Harman: Francisez-moi* (2025) 20′
Frédéric Lebel: Si le Temps, l’Espace (2022)
*Création
