Compositions
Concept Pieces written with amateurs or younger musicians in mind can be found here; these pursue primarily musical goals but do not claim to advance music history.
As a composer I am member of the AKM Vienna although I do not view myself as a composer. The inflationary use of the term by improvising musicians or video artists is anathema to me even though it may sometimes be rather difficult to draw lines between Concept Art, Sound Installation, Conceptual Improvisation, and Composition.
Due to my long experience as a contemporary music specialist the profession has earned my respect. In the rare cases when I do produce a piece myself, I would only do this if – as far as I know – there is no such piece in existence.
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Rotationsszene for Jap-Fiddle and stationary audience [2010] 8'
UA 2010 Klosterneuburg near Wien by Claudius v. Wrochem
DEA 2015 Aachen by Claudius v. Wrochem
This piece was written to complete "Utopia", a solo programme for Cello and Jap-Fiddle. The latter is a phono fiddle whose only string leads over a metal pin rather than a bridge; the sound is pre-amplified by a membrane and then amplified further by a horn similar to a gramophone's.
This makes for a rather nasal and strongly directional sound.
The limitations in string numbers and timbre of the Jap-Fiddle compared to the cello are made up in Rotationsszene by transforming the cellist into a rotating source of sound. One might liken it to a human Leslie-Cabinet on tranquilizers producing a slight flanging instead of a doppler effect. One needs to buckle up the instrument in order to play.
Rotationsszene can be realized as a composition or as a concept improvisation. In the latter case the performer has a free hand in shaping the musical form and over-all duration but has to improvise on four levels at the same time: Rotation (parameters: left/right, speed, distance to audience), pitch, dynamics, timbre.
Any phono fiddle or Stroh instrument can be used for both versions.
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Gans Nackt (Goose Nude) for an improvising musician and humming strings [2018] 10'
UA Berlin 2018 by Johannes v Wrochem and the Kaios Quartet - Video Documentation
Gans Nackt is dedicated to my brother for the occasion of his 50th birthday. He is a very talented free-impro musician but never plays from sheet music.
The challenge I was facing as a composer was: How do I bring together a string quartet specialized on contemporary music with an improviser without making do with the lowest common denominator but instead letting both parties perform and communicate at the height of their abilities.
My solution was to give the string quartet musical materials and a legend, and to give the impro musician nearly nothing.
Synchronization was limited to short overlaps as the impro musician has only two rules to respect: when a certain sound has been reached by the string quartet he/she is to start playing. When the string quartet interrupts his solo he has to fade out within a few seconds.
The quartet material has to be adapted to the pitches heard directly before re-entry, therefore all four have to follow the impro solo closely in order to be able to enter at any moment.
The version with electric guitar adds the contrast between amplified or electronically manipulated sound to acoustically playing strings. But any other instrument or the voice could perform the impro part as long as it is no string quartet instrument.