The DigiEnsemble’s performance of Bach’s Christmas Oratorio played on mobile devices only at the Berlin Cathedral in 2012 was a huge success. In celebration of the Berliner Dom’s 20 year anniversary, the cathedral’s organist Andreas Sieling and the DigiEnsemble paired up and gave their first concert together on June 6, 2013.

For the anniversary show, the musicians composed four pieces. Their intention was to experiment with the sound possibilities of the cathedral’s interior architecture. They used 12 loudspeakers, placed all around the cathedral, and created new sounds as “frozen echoes” and “fluid music” (rainshower in the dom).

# 1 Fusions – a piece by Uwe Schamburek | soundart

“Fusions” by Uwe Schamburek is a fusion of two famous organ works in an experimental piece for musical apps. The sound material includes sampled and edited sounds of organs and numerous samples of rain and thunderstorms. They were played by six musicians via the app “ThumbJam” (iOS) and through the eleven loudspeakers placed in the cathedral. Check this for more information…

# 2 TimeShape – a piece by Puya Shoary | spatial music

”Time Shape“ by Puya Shoary is a musical composition that can be stylistically categorized as Minimal Music. This sound structure is modified with the use of effects by another musician, while the whole piece is floating between eleven loudspeakers spread all around the cathedral’s arch. Check this for more information…

# 3 Quell-Klang – a piece by Daniel Grote | soundart

“Quell-Klang“ by Daniel Grote is a composition that plays around with timbre and its components: partials. Regarding to the model of partials, the difference between the tone color of a trumpet and the sound of a violin depends on the number and the volume level of partials that constitute the sound. The idea of “Quell-Klang” is not only to create entirely new tone colors, but develop melodic and harmonic phrases within a piece: a Klangfarbenmelodie.  Check this for more information…

# 4 Higgs – a piece by Nico Steckhan | soundart

In “Higgs”, a piece by Nico Steckhan, the DigiEnsemble now performs their own musical interpretation of this quantum-physical concept. Check this for more information…

and
# 5 Bach: Air – performed by cathedral organist Andreas Sieling with Uwe Schamburek, Matthias Krebs and Daniel Grote

Here, we’d like to thank Audiofly Soundtec GmbH for the technical support.