«Ströme»

I closed my eyes, the space around me began to pulsate. A choir of 70 people, united, yet physically separated from each other, and me in my pulpit built of keyboard instruments. As we all engage in a moment of contemplation, we are doing what all human beings do simply to stay alive: we breathe. Winding their way between the performers are the melodies that radiate from my piano. As if bouncing off a glittering vault, we are reflected and fragmented ad infinitum. Bar by bar the structure becomes further illuminated, and the complex process of interaction becomes comprehensible while remaining beyond the grasp. The architecture of this space seems to reach infinity. Synthetic sounds and elements of noise exert a pressure that transforms pillars of rhythm into lucid melodies. Broad syllables melt into clangorous vowels. Everything is subject to transformation. Everything is dependent upon something else. And no-one says a word. «Ströme» is, so to say, the latest refinement of a snapshot of my music. It is the result of lively collaboration between myself, my intuition and a performing collective, Leipzig‘s GewandhausChor. On this album, my modular compositions – not ‘works’ as such, but rather compendiums of interconnecting musical ideas – once again break into new terrain. They resonate with the choir, and above all with its director Gregor Meyer, sparking emotional impulses between the singers and indirectly stimulating movement in their bodies.

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Released 2019 via Warner Classics. Available as CD, LP and on all streaming and download platforms.

Credits ”Ströme” is a musical composition commissioned by the Gewandhaus zu Leipzig for artist Martin Kohlstedt and the Gewandhaus Chor, kindly supported by VNG AG. This composition was created for the project „Two Play To Play“, which is a venture designed by Karen Laube and Matthias Krähenbiel and produced and organized by the Gewandhaus. The Gewandhaus Chor was recorded on june 09 and june 10, 2018 in the Gewandhaus Leipzig. Written and composed by Martin Kohlstedt. Choir composed, arranged and conducted by Gregor Meyer. Mixed by Mario Weise Mastered by Calyx Artwork by Happy Little Accidents Published by Edition Kohlstedt / Kick the Flame Publishing