Sound images

Rhythmic bell sampling, multimedia installations, eight-channel music: to mark the 2004 European Bell Days the ZKM | Institute for Music and Acoustics in Karlsruhe and the German Bells Advisory Committee sponsored a composition competition. The key component of the entries were to be the sounds of church bells which – with the help of electronic manipulation – were to form the expressive essence of the composition. The three prize winners, Mario Verandi, Frank Niehusmann and Andre Bartetzki, were given the opportunity to try out their compositional ideas on the sound of bells in the studios of the ZKM | Institute for Music and Acoustics. The three works that emerged reflect the artists' completely different approaches to the subject matter. The concert consists of three premieres: a piece for tape recorder, a multimedia installation and a concert in the nature of a performance.