Programme notes from Eva-Maria Houben:
Doors open 19:30 for organ installation I (2005)
1. abhanden – méditations sur l’orgue 13 (2023)
2. abhanden – méditations sur l’orgue 3 (2021)
break
3. some questions (2023)
4. bicinium, trio, quatuor (excerpts of ‘orgelbuch’) (2006)
5. the organ and its silence (2024)
organ installation: embarking on a fantastic journey. setting out with the magic organ to find enchanted worlds: organ sounds spread out, the listeners become participants as they are free to move, to talk, to do whatever they like.
the first two pieces of the program invite you to take part in the thrilling games the organ offers: experiencing the organ, becoming aware of the organ as a reality for itself, realizing the organ as a machine, as an extension of the human body—doing what we cannot do, breathing with a mere endless breath, reigning over a universe of partials and tone relations. the second piece (before the break) is a trio, thus concentrating on the very inner core of the organ.
the first piece after the break continues the game with the organ wind. the next one offers the three main playing modes: on two manuals (or one manual and pedal), on two manuals and pedal, on three manuals and pedal (quatuor that J. S. Bach already practiced). conclusion: excerpts of another ‘orgelbuch’ with some instigations to transmit, to transpose, to transform, to transfigure, to transcend.
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"Houben] betonar vikten av att "lyssna" och "vara medveten", två ord som definierar hennes egen inställning till musikskapande. Hennes ackord sjunger hela sin sång, från topp till botten; om man stannar kvar i ögonblicket hör man dem faktiskt i de "tysta" passagerna i hennes stycken. Du kan lyssna på dem när de försvinner." - HCMF
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This event has been made possible with financial support from Kulturrådet and Stockholm City.
Eva-Maria Houben has been performing works for the organ for more than 30 years. She is part of the “wandelweiser-group” of composers and has several recordings on their label Wandleweiser Editions, as well as releases on Another Timbre, Sawyer Editions, LINE, ftarri and her own Diafini imprint.
Her compositions include works for the organ, piano, clarinet, trombone, violoncello and other solo instruments, works for voice and piano, for wind and chamber ensembles, for orchestra and for voice and orchestra, for works for choir, and electroacoustic music.
She has also published extensively on the subject of contemporary music, with both contemporary composers and traditional music listened to with ‘new ears’.
Eva-Maria Houben (born 1955) studied Music Education at Folkwang-Musikhochschule Essen and the organ with Gisbert Schneider. Following her exams she taught both German and Music Education at Secondary School. She received her doctorate and postdoctoral lecturing qualification in musicology and was called for lectures at Gerhard-Mercator-Universität Duisburg and Robert-Schumann-Hochschule Düsseldorf. Between 1993 —2021 Professor Houben lectured at Dortmund University`s “Institut für Musik und Musikwissenschaft” on music theory and contemporary music.