Sechs Skonographien
for prepared viola
2023
16 min
„Skoné“ means dust in Ancient Greek. I tried to write a viola piece that would bring out the qualities I associate with this instrument in a more extreme way. Through means of preparing the viola with different objects, I searched for appropriate sounds to achieve that.
While working on my piece, I discovered the art photography book „Skonogramme“ by the Swiss artist Lorenz Olivier Schmid, for which he developed a special technique to photograph dust layers that formed on glass plates, holding together dead plants or insects. His obscure, grainy and microscopic images seemed to open up a world that was exactly that, which I wanted to create with my piece. I allowed myself to take my title from him.
Not only does my piece sound „dusty“, but it appeared to me that I was trying to capture something similar as Schmid. In photographing the remains of living beings, he captured some kind of essence of them, the only thing left of them. My intention was to do something similar with the viola: capture my essence of it.
Mike Flemming’s Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@mikeflemming1605
Lorenz Olivier Schmid’s Book: https://vexer.ch/products/skonogramme
Premiered by Mike Flemming at the re-sonanz concert in the Kunsthaus Potsdam, organised by the Brandenburgischer Verein Neue Musik, 17.07.23
Listen to the studio recording (wav) here:
Watch the video of the recording here: