Strobing Questions:
Alexander Schubert’s Sensate Focus Interview : Abi Bliss
The Hamburg composer explains why there's more to his music than flash performance The partnership between science and music stretches back at least as far as the sixth century BC, when Pythagoras unwittingly sowed the seeds a thousand piano tuners' headaches with his attempt to define perfect intervals. And from Xenakis's UPIC computer, with its groundbreaking sonic painting interface, to the transmissions of pulsar signals from Jodrell Bank telescope at the heart of Gérard Grisey's Le Noir de l'Étoile, countless events over the 37-year history of Huddersfield Contemporary Music Festival have been inspired by everything from genetics, psychology and mathematics to the cutting edge of music technology.
When I was at contemporary music concerts I used to miss the energy on stage, the aggressive performances This year's festival is no exception, with the premiere on Friday 28 November by Plus-Minus of Alexander Schubert's Sensate Focus, a work based upon intriguing and disturbing 1970s neuroscience experiments. Animal lovers, look away now.
Scored for electric guitar, bass clarinet, violin, percussion and electronics, Sensate Focus has its roots in 'Cats Reared in Stroboscopic Illumination: Effects on Receptive Fields in Visual Cortex' a 1973 paper by a trio of scientists describing how kittens reared in an environment where the only source of light was a strobe every two seconds grew up unable to understand Born in Bremen and based in Hamburg, 35 year-old Schubert movement and, when their brains were dissected, had creates music that moves too fast and unpredictably to be pigeonholed. He describes his nervy, energetic compositions as significant differences from usual in their visual cortexes. Replacing the hapless test felines with the hcmf// audience, ‘mostly at the border of contemporary music and other Schubert's piece involves brief half-second flashes from genres: techno, free jazz and improvised music’. So 2013’s spotlights trained upon each of the four performers and Lucky Dip for midi-drumkit, keyboard, electric guitar and light synchronised with the music. projections harnesses some of the complex textures and supercharged drill 'n' bass rhythms of Aphex Twin, whilst Your Fox's, A Dirty Gold from 2011 combines punk rock, operatic ‘The title Sensate Focus describes the shifting of the focus away singing and motion-sensor electronics. from the purely musical in the performance,’ he elaborates. ‘The musicians' presence on the stage and their movements in performing the sounds become equally important, so it has a According to Schubert, his pick 'n' mix approach is an intuitive strong theatrical effect.’ Governed by a strict timeline in order one, born out of what he loves when immersed in each different scene. ‘When I was at contemporary music concerts I to keep up with the choreographed light effects, the players' movements also form part of the score. ‘Some of the sounds used to miss the energy on stage, the aggressive supplied by the performers have a gestural feel to them as well, performances, whereas at improvised concerts I would miss such as a glissando movement or some staccato hitting, where the structured or well organised elements you would have in the timing is very precise but there are certain aspects that can traditional composed music,’ he explains. ‘So basically it's a very selfish approach, trying to bring on stage what I would like be left to improvisation.’ to hear.’