Ensemble Musikfabrik - Sturm ('Storm'): Edition Musikfabrik, Vol. 15

Stormy sounds of widely varying 'wind quality' blow through the pieces on the new CD by Edition Musikfabrik. In Steffen Schleiermacher�s Das Tosen des staunenden Echos (The roar of the amazed echo) the paradox of a 'roaring stillness' unfolds in a kind of cantus firmus - echoing ritual recitations from Laos - which meanders amongst the various instruments and moves towards its finale with sonic force. Kaija Saariaho�s storm references are more literary in nature: Shakespeare�s play The Tempest serves as a backdrop for her Songbook of the same name and provides the lyrics for the pieces sung finely nuanced by Olivia Vermeulen and Peter Sch�ne. In antagonisme contr�l�, by Michael Wertm�ller, the storm takes place in the formal structure of the work, where the different temperatures of free jazz and new music collide: Peter Br�tzmann - on of the leading free jazz-artists today - together with Ensemble Musikfabrik�s percussionist, Dirk Rothbrust, on drumset and Marino Pliakas on e-bass create a high pressure system to face the headwind of the full ensemble.