Doppelquartett mit Henry

The mysterious world of Helmut Oehring is revealed by the united string quartet Danel and saxophone quartet BL!NDMAN. Alternating solos, pieces for both quartets and ultimately the octet, lead the audience trough the meanders of Oehring’s complex thinking.

The German composer Helmut Oehring (b. 1961) is the son of deaf parents. He only realised this when he was sent to another family to learn how to speak. This was a shocking experience. His mother’s deep voice had previously always seemed normal to him. He became a builder and learned to play guitar and compose on his own. Because he lived in a deaf environment, seeing was more important than hearing. Sight is linked to speech and communication. Even as a composer, he thinks and dreams in sign language. Is this why Oehring makes all instrumental sounds so strange? Is this why he retunes strings, detensions drums and covers metal until there is nothing that sounds and vibrates naturally? The musicians are required to submit themselves to Oehring’s musical language on the level of time and rhythmic structures, as well as to movement and spatial coordination. It’s as if they have had to learn to speak anew on their musical instrument.

In this portrait concert, one will hear the first ever performance of a work by BL!NDMAN and Quatuor Danel commissioned by deSingel, next to some new versions of Oehring’s existing compositions and a piece by Eric Sleichim, the inspiration behind BL!NDMAN.