THRENODY ENSEMBLE
Timbre Hollow
CD, All Tomorrow’s Parties
How
much classical education does one need to play, write or understand modern
classical or avantgarde music? Easy answer: none. Not necessarily.
Nevertheless, any kind of surplus knowledge is good for you. Expanding your
horizon, testing new things and questioning the limits is always a good
thing. For instance, Brahms’ “piano trio No. 1 in B (op.8)” is the
most beautiful piece of music I have ever heard and who would ever have
guessed so. For beginners in all things classical music I’d recommend
Vivaldi’s “Four Seasons”, everyone likes that. The Presto of “Four
Seasons” even made it on a compilation called “Heavy Classic”, which
features the loudest, wildest and most rocking pieces written for classic
orchestra. What a strange idea? But one, that is not afraid to draw
connections between musical genres that couldn’t be further apart from
each other. And Threnody Ensemble do the same thing.
“Timbre
Hollow” was released in the USA by a label specialised in modern,
classical music. The members have a history of playing in “progressive”
(in the best sense of the word) rock-bands, playing with A Minor Forest but
also working with a very wide variety of bands / artists from Fugazi
to Edith Frost. They basically play something that could be described as a
very modern, avantgarde version of chamber music. Their pieces are partly
composed and partly improvised. Sometimes they fuse non-European rhythms and
textures into the music, then step back to explore sounds and noises. They
were basically a three-piece with two guitars and one cello, but they
constantly work and record with differing other musicians. The sounds come
from acoustic instruments but also from computers. Sometimes they work as a
fully equipped orchestra with dynamics as heavy and driving as those of Godspeed
you black emperor!, other times they are only interested into how
two guitars picked very softly interact with each other. So, what exactly is
the Threnody Ensemble apart from freedom? Well, it is exactly that. A new
connection between all kinds of things imaginable. This is what music is
here for – to enlighten, enrich spiritually and to break down barriers.
Because fusions and trespassings of this kind are the only possibility to
let something new come alive. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not –
this one definitely is a winner.
