Outernational: Isles & Rivers
Along solidifying and dissolving borders, "Isles & Rivers" tells the story of music as an eternal story of migration. And approaches the island as a real utopia.
"How do we come together, how do we combine the most diverse musical influences - from the island of Crete to the Aegean and Iran? Isles & Rivers is a journey from the past to the future, in which the different musical perspectives have grown together to form a collective of their own."
The listener of „Isles & Rivers“ is invited to exit and re-enter the river on different banks –sometimes foaming wildly, sometimes quietly. Compositions by the soloists of the ensemble, that grew together for this project like a family, circle around the sea, driven by migrating rhythms and melodies: Sokratis Sinopoulos is one of the greatest lyre virtuosi from Greece, Keyvan and Bijan Chemirani have developed a completely unique playing style for Persian percussion, which flows into their pieces. In his piece "Knowing Nothing", Yannis Kyriakides, who is also on stage as a live electronic musician, dedicates himself to the philosopher Metrodorus from the island of Chios. The cast assembled for the evening will also present another piece by Kyriakides: "the island remained silent". The form of the piece is a song cycle in which the automatically generated melodies are not sung but played by the ensemble. It is based on eight texts about a narrator's first encounter with an island and tells of the Mediterranean as a space of refugee experience. At performances in Berlin, Hamburg, Greece and Luxembourg, the project left an enthusiastic audience in its wake – and the journey continues!
Tracklist
The piece "138" by Keyvan and Bijan Chemirani is a modal composition in a 13-8 rhythm that the brothers composed together. "As is so often the case, Bijan came up with the basic idea and I developed the piece from there," says Keyvan Chemirani. The Outernational cast performed it for the first time on the island of Chios, at the Chios Music Festival in an open amphitheatre. Since then, it has continued to grow with the ensemble and become a centrepiece of the album.
Sokratis Sinopoulos has played a major role in the revival of the lyre in Greece, both in traditional music and in the development of new music. In "Aegean Sea", Sokratis Sinopoulos brings together various elements and musical influences from the Aegean, a historical, cultural melting pot without equal. In all of this, Sokratis Sinopoulos is never concerned with a simple "fusion" of different influences and ingredients, but with a subtle encounter and further development.
"Lyra is over 5,000 years old. It has a strong personality that is formed from the history of the region and its music. I can draw strength from this past, build on it, create something new and perhaps also take a look from the past into the future."
- The composer about the instrument
In this new composition, the electronics played by Yannis Kyriakides are based on a rhythmic dissolution of words and voices, providing the framework for a pulsating composition in which the musicians from different traditions enter into an interlocking network of evolving phrases. The piece is inspired by a saying of the little-known pre-Socratic philosopher Metrodoros from the island of Chios: "None of us knows anything, not even whether we know or do not know, nor do we know whether there is ignorance and knowledge, nor in general whether there is something or not". The premiere of this piece took place at the Chios Music Festival 2021.
"The instruments imitate what the voice says, they mirror it - but are completely free in their way of expression. I want them to breathe meaning into the phrases in their own musical language. That's what music can do. The computer voice programmed for English, on the other hand, can only try to speak different languages, which also has a colonial aspect: English appears here as a killer language that destroys all other languages.“
- The composer about his piece
Rognoni was an Italian composer of the 16th century; "Vestiva i colli" is one of his best-known works. The diminutives on a madrigal by Palestrina are an example of the constant fertilisation of Renaissance music through exchange and travel. The theorbo, the instrument played by Andreas Arend in this project, also tells of this - in its relationship to the lute and the Arabic oud.
For some, "Grybbon" is the unofficial Outernational anthem. A rhythmically complex composition by Keyvan Chemirani with plenty of room for improvisation - whether for the lyre or the zarb. He composed it for his wife.
The brothers Bijan and Keyvan Chemirani have been playing together since they could think. In this duo, Zarb and Zarb dedicate themselves to an improvised interplay that exploits the diversity of Persian percussion.
The internationally renowned musician Ross Daly once said about them in VAN Outernational:
"I'm not primarily interested in finding virtuosos. I look for people whose music directly reveals their innermost essence. That's how it is with the Chemiranis and that's why they've been one of my favourite musicians for decades."
Sokratis Sinopoulos describes "21 March" as the transition from darkness to light. 21 March is not only the beginning of spring, an international day against racism, but is also celebrated as New Year (Nowruz) in many cultures.
A completely free improvisation by Bijan Chemirani on zarb and Yannis Kyriakides on electronics.
As the name suggests, the "Berceuse" is a lullaby for which Bijan Chemirani switches from the zarb to the saz.
The score for "The Island Remained Silent" is an interactive "video score" generated by audio input from the musicians. The form of the piece is a song cycle in which the automatically generated melodies are not sung but played by the ensemble. It is based on eight texts about a narrator's first encounter with an island - the island is both a political place of utopia and a refuge that many refugees cannot reach.
In Merula's Ciaccona, the entire ensemble comes together - the Ciaccona in its form and variation technique also stands for the eternal development of music through migration.
Recorded live @ Radialsystem Berlin.
A project by Outernational. Curated by Elisa Erkelenz
in cooperation with Radialsystem Berlin
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Recording, Mix & Master: Martin Ruch | Control Room Berlin