2004 . Audiovision
Hearing fundamental and overtones
Having finally obtained a properly performed orchestral recording of Bruckner's Ninth Symphony by the European Philharmonic Orchestra under the direction of Peter Jan Marthé, and having met with Prof. Marthé several more times for discussions about Bruckner in Salzburg and Innsbruck, it became easier for me, with such a highly competent musical support at my side, to "formulate" my initially audacious project of incorporating the audiovisual information hidden within the score.
In my visualization, I didn't want to be presumptuous and know-it-all, but to document in a way that everyone could understand that Bruckner consciously conceived his Ninth Symphony as something more like stage-ready film music, and not, as is generally assumed, as a conventional symphony.
I had to translate this symphonic music, arguably one of the most abstract of all the arts, into the syntax of the visual world of theater and film, according to Bruckner's specifications. It sounds mundane and simple at first, but it's much more difficult than I initially thought.
For two whole weeks, from July 26th to August 6th, 2005, at Mondsee Castle, I had the privilege of observing Professor Marthé during his recording of Bruckner's Eighth Symphony. It was a true privilege, as I was able, for example, to sit among the young, talented musicians from the most established Central European orchestras during rehearsals and try to characterize the different soundscapes from the specific "listening perspective" of the various instruments.
I quickly noticed that not only are the pitch markings in the score perceived differently by different musicians, but they actually sound completely different at every point in the orchestra. That in itself wasn't such a revolutionary discovery, but it realistically demonstrated to me why a piece of music is perceived completely differently depending on whether you're sitting in front of, to the left of, or to the right of the orchestra!
The maestro's instructors smiled at my discovery and explained that the seating arrangement in a modern symphony orchestra has always followed the natural ability for individual pitch perception. Therefore, those musicians who are so-called fundamental tone players, with their higher-pitched instruments (e.g., violin, flute, trumpet), sit strictly to the left of the conductor, and those who listen for overtones (e.g., viola, cello, double bass, bassoon, tuba) sit to his right.
While this explains some things, I still noticed that even the conductor at his podium hears the best possible listening experience of his newly created ensemble, but not truly optimal in terms of what is actually audibly possible!
For example, I had never before in my life heard the strings so "physical," so intoxicating, even frighteningly intense, as when sitting right among them. The dominant clarity of the violins and violas in relation to the other, somewhat subdued-sounding instruments of the rest of the orchestra gave me the idea of letting every listener hear each of these instrument groups—whether fundamental or overtone instruments, whether seated at the front, left, or right—the truly full, authentic, practically the actual Bruckner sound. While it is well known that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, one should also be able to truly hear these selective parts, these incredibly rich-sounding individual instruments and groups.
As I was later told by event professionals, this is technically quite feasible today and has since become a strict requirement of my planned "Sinfonìa visìbile." For comparison, when I listened to the version of this Eighth Symphony mixed in Marthé's recording studio—a version undoubtedly mixed with the utmost sensitivity of a gifted Bruckner conductor—it was no longer the same strings or winds I had experienced live, from my special orchestral vantage point. In my opinion, this is a shortcoming of all previously mixed analog and digital recordings.
After those two weeks in Mondsee, I was electrified: Bruckner knew the immense power of his properly performed Ninth Symphony and had therefore explicitly hoped for the understanding of "later generations" (presumably us) that they would interpret his music correctly. Perhaps this is why, during his lifetime, he refrained from staging a Wagnerian-style "Bruckner opera" based on the Ninth, because it simply wasn't feasible at the time.
My head full of these incredibly motivating thoughts, which would surely only elicit pitying head-shaking from established musicians, I was already looking forward to Bruckner's Ninth Symphony, which Prof. Marthé, at my request, wanted to record in 2006 after he had revised Bruckner's Third.
In 2006, I felt like Hans in Luck!
