Same and similar 3
for organ positive, harmonium/Celesta and Hammond organ (2018)
Same and similar 3 is a study
for three keyboard instruments. The organ positive, harmonium and
Hammond organ are related by their developmental history but are
entirely different instruments in terms of their construction. By means
of a compositional synchronisation and even, in certain places, a
notated unison, I attempt to render the experience of the sonic
similarities and differences of the three instruments.
For some time past, I have felt myself drawn to the sonic occurrences in the inner space of a piano. Same and similar 3 has
been inspired indirectly by Rosalyn Tureck’s 1961 interpretation, on
concert piano, of Johann Sebastian Bach’s third movement of BWV 992 Capriccio in B-flat major. In this recording specifically, I wished to
obtain the time, while listening, to be able to follow the resonances
and sound combinations that occur so very richly and intensely – due to
the piece’s high number of chromatic lines – with greater precision
auditorially. Surprisingly, the resulting sounds of these replayed lines remind me sonically of organ tones. It was exactly this effect that
founded my wish to stop time and follow what I had effectively
heard.
Same and similar 3 is an attempt to consider the three instrumental sound bodies as one.
Organ positive: Grégoire Rolland
Harmonium/Celesta: Vincent Thévenaz
Hammond organ XP2: Simone Keller
Composition and recording: Barblina Meierhans
13 October 2018, WP, Trois+Trois, ARCOOP, Geneva, Switzerland
