MORE MUSIC

UNTRAMMELED (2010)
soprano saxophone

The cd starts with Franz Schubert´s Nacht & Träume, Samuel Beckett´s favorite song.
Apart from that a basic reinterpretation of previous titles - owed to the meditative and playing around with repetitions - is in the fore­ground.
Two poems by Paul Celan are protected by the music.



FUDOCHISHINMYOROKU (2010)
alto saxophone & piano

First cd without the soprano saxophone; exclusively own compo­sitions; very meditative and very »soundy« at the same time.
The title piece refers to a letter, written by the Japonese Zen monk Takuan in the 17th century. He was the spiritual teacher of the greatest swordsmen of his time. This letter or better this little lucid essay is entitled Fudochishinmyoroku - good speech practice - or The Mysterious Record of Immovable Wisdom, a highly recom­mandable text.



KLEINE INSELN (2010)
soprano saxophone

Exclusively own compositions; with some little, »soundy« interludes; and alternating voices; or the distance to the micro does change several times: so this cd seems to be somewhat dialogical, that is to say, most often something is added, even if it´s just a sizzling noise. There is a need for exchange, repercussion, answer. Nevertheless these pushes remain »tiny« little islands (Kleine Inseln).



CELESTIAL WALK (2009)
soprano & alto saxophone

Almost exclusively own compositions; with a second, long version of Die Ablösung (displacement and rebonding) on the alto saxophone.
Blossom Out, Clouds, Celestial Walk form a sort of round dance of or for nature. Primarily Clouds is initiated by the observation of amazing cloud formations during a week of fast high in the Swiss mountains.



PACKAGE STORY (2009)
soprano saxophone & sounds

This is a mini-CD with 3 little »soundy« images which feature my immediate environment: an empy cookie box, noises in and around my appartment and the dog Sam rutting in Autumn foliage.



UNFOREKNOWN (2008)
soprano saxophone

This is a sort of demo cd. It contains takes from the last three cds (see under Music).



LE BOIS (2006/07)
soprano saxophone & piano

Almost exclusively own compositions; with two longer free impro­visations, one on the piano.



ON THE BRINK (2006)
soprano & tenor saxophone

Predominantly own compositions; with a homage to the sculptor Daniel Depoutot.



IL N´YA RIEN À PLEURER
hommage à Beckett (2006)
soprano saxophone, piano & voice

Includes two suites. One is named Sands and composed by Steve Lacy. In fact it consists of three songs using Samuel Becketts poems from the late forties, for example Il n´ya rièn à pleurer.
The other suite is called zeitlos (timeless) and includes the titles Winddieb (wind thief) - Luftherz (air heart) - Lichtspieler (light gambler). Winddieb and Lichtspieler are neologisms from a nar­ration, the desperate protagonist in a novel by Julien Green starts off because in so doing he tries to fantasize himself into a less boring existence. The novel is called If I were you. Luftherz is a central notion from a short piece of prose by Beckett called Less­ness. These three small pieces are a sort of reflex on the down­beating lack of utopia these days, an inventory of the timeless and gratis remains of nature-perception.
The cd is exclusively dedicated to Samuel Beckett, for his 100th birthday.



STEFAN HARDT - DANIEL DEPOUTOT II (2006)
Stefan Hardt: soprano saxophone, compositions
Daniel Depoutot: sculptures

This is the second cd with Daniel Depoutot (see under Music). Partly the compositions were already well established, that is to say well hung when we recorded them. The piece Unter Glas is dedicated to Marcel Duchamp, referring to his main work The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, even (1915-23).



FEINT (2005)
soprano saxophone; 2 pieces together with Daniel Depoutot (see above)
With respectively one composition by Steve Lacy, John Coltrane and Eric Dolphy.

Aufwind is a technically quite challenging title. Die Glocke - Der Duft refers to a haiku by the famous master of this genre: Basho from the late 18th century. Approximately it goes like this*:

fading temple bell
the fragrance of flowers strikes
at evening


*using the convincing translation by Jane Reichold (from: Basho - The Complete Haiku; Kodansha International, 2008)



LE DEDALE (2005)
soprano & tenor saxophone; piano

Includes a composition by Brian Wilson from his cd Smile and two versions of a free improvisation: once the original and then a remix: a version cut into small sections, with repetitions and loops.



MIGRANTS (2005)
soprano & tenor saxophone

Besides own pieces, compositions by Masahiko Togashi, Jacob van Eyck, Steve Lacy, Duke Ellington & Conrad Bauer.
Migrants I: Conference (soprano sax) & Migrants II: They Think Of Africa (tenor sax) display an excursion into the realm of birds. I got inspired by a collection of partly breathtaking bird voices.



UNSPEAKABLE HOME (2004)
soprano & tenor saxophone

On this cd I wanted to demonstrate the spectrum of expression I was capable of at that point. Therefore you´ll find titles by such different composers as Duke Ellington, Ornette Coleman, Tom Varner, Morton Feldman and Hanns Eisler.
Cipriano refers to a character in The Cave by José Saramago, furthermore to the Dutch renaissance composer Cipriano de Rore and uses a Doric scale.
Neither picks up the only recognizable motif, the only clearly perceptible musical phrase in an opera for soprano voice and orchestra by Morton Feldman and varies it. The ten line long libretto is by Samuel Beckett.



RIMANE MOLTO (2004)
soprano saxophone

This cd, a homage to Steve Lacy, with versions of his own pieces, was planned as a present for his 70th birthday. Sad to say that he didn´t live to see it anymore. He was definetely the master of the soprano saxophone and one of the most inspiring musicians I ever met. So, transforming one of his titles (Rimane Poco), I wanted to express that there is so much of his that will stay, outlast.



STEFAN HARDT - ROR WOLF
LANGMUT & EINE LÄNGERE REISE
(2004)
soprano saxophone & voice

This proposition of a concert-reading mixture is based on a short story by Ror Wolf, Auf und davon - Eine längere Reise. (Up and thereof - A longer journey). A live performance could somehow sound like the cd, that is to say, the cd contains the program.
I have confidence in the thought that the ambiances - the one of the text and the one of the music - would affect each other. The movement shown in the text, the permanent decamping is well suited as a motor for going on playing.
The author himself likes the project, he authorised me to perform the program.



TRIFLING STAGGER (2002)
soprano saxophone & piano

These three cds (Trifling Stagger - Espace Pantin - Unter Glas) from 2002 I compiled from material that had been accumulated in the course of time. One composition includes the recitation of Je suis ce cours de sable... by Samuel Beckett.



ESPACE PANTIN (2002)
soprano saxophone

The piece which gave the cd its name, Espace Pantin, was com­posed for the Beckett Festival 2000 in Berlin.
Cream Cut is one of these pieces where I include fragments of texts or poems. This extract originates from Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein.



UNTER GLAS (2002)
soprano & baritone saxophone; piano

With a homage to Marcel Duchamp and a long improvisation on the baritone. Drohung (menace) deals with the homonymous poem by Gottfried Benn.



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