Das Phonem zwischen zwei Wörtern (b)
for simultaneous* baroque ensemble and large orchestra (2023)
*simultaneous works are compositions consisting of autonomous discourses, the components of which can be performed together and as stand-alone works. Stand-alone works, referred to as seeds, are listed below.
co-commissioned by the SWR Symphonieorchester and the ELISION Ensemble
dedicated to Robin Kirkham
premiered by the SWR Symphonieorchester and the ELISION Ensemble at the ECLAT Festival, February 2, 2024
conducted by Brad Lubman
For Seed I:
Peter Veale, baroque oboe
Carl Rosman, 3-key baroque clarinet in D and basson de chalumeau
James Aylward, baroque bassoon
Alex Waite, harpsichord
For Seed II:
Christoph Grund, piano
Ursula Eisert, harp
SWR Symphonieorchester
score published by Edition Gravis
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Not intended as a concerto, Das Phonem zwischen zwei Wörtern (b) is composed in two different tunings for two interdependent pieces, which can be performed together or as two stand-alone works. Written for baroque ensemble and large orchestra, this work is the second part of a three-part cycle, which engages with a multidimensional study on timbral and harmonic spaces, intended to offer an approach for re-thinking how discrete mappings of a given tuning can be re-imagined simultaneously within continuous terms.
In this work, the piece engaging with the large orchestra was written in 443Hz and composed in relation to a 3D acoustic model that I designed based on architectural structures that are no longer standing — namely the 6th-century Basilica of St. John in Ephesus and the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Rather than for simulation or a fixed point of observation, this approach to 3D modeling was activated to develop sonic-temporal architecture emerging from two spaces, as a way to visualize and re-imagine what lies in-between, through which embodied spaces of the pasts that have been erased become visible through corporeal reach and sound.
This cycle brings together collaborative research initiated in parallel with the study informed by the 3D modeling. Initiated in 2022, this research is based on numerous sessions conducted with Peter Veale on performing baroque oboe and modern oboe; Carl Rosman on performing 3-key baroque clarinet in D, modern clarinet in Bb as well as basson du chalumeau and modern bass clarinet; James Aylward on performing baroque bassoon and modern bassoon; and Alex Waite on performing harpsichord and piano.
Written in 415Hz, the piece composed for the “baroque ensemble” is informed by this research, and correspondingly engages with instrument design and its relation to body and space, not as means to arrange a fixed past with a fixed present, but rather to trace how coeval pasts inform contemporary performance praxes, while also unpacking the conditions surrounding how instrument design relates to embodiment and space.
Activating interrelationships of sound, space, and corporeality as a mode of unlearning, Das Phonem zwischen zwei Wörtern (b) in its simultaneity is therefore an effort to take account for what may be not rendered visible, but is nevertheless present in space, and to address traces of multiple pasts not just in relation to the conditions of what remains, but also to the conditions of erasure.
©Turgut Erçetin 2010-2025 (All rights reserved).
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for baroque ensemble consisting of:
baroque oboe
3-key baroque clarinet in D and basson de chalumeau
baroque bassoon
harpsichord -
for large orchestra
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Audio (SoundCloud)
Also to be featured on an upcoming portrait CD (Wergo, 2025), with a performance given by the SWR Symphonieorchester and the ELISION Ensemble. -
For research, see research and the related 3D animations:
Space, sound, and corporeality I: architectures of erasure
Space, sound, and corporeality II: design and embodied acoustics
Publications:
Related monograph That which lies beyond enclosure is forthcoming. More information coming soon.
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"SWR2 Abendkonzert – LIVE SWR JetztMusik in ECLAT", with Lydia Jeschke, Brad Lubman, Carl Rosman, and Turgut Erçetin commenting on the work.
