Death Be Not Proud

Melvin Poore is a top solo performer, world-renowned interpreter, composer and committed musical mediator. In his work he always looks for new possibilities to extend the potential of his instrument, the tuba. The present CD recording gives an overview of the current state of the studies of the sound researcher Poore: Apart from a composition of his own, this CD contains further works by Georg Katzer, Cort Lippe and Valerio Sannicandro. All pieces were commissioned by Kunststiftung NRW and recorded and produced at the ZKM | Institute for Music and Acoustics in 2009. In all constellations, Poore is much more than an interpreter, he rather is co-creator, designer and technician-performer. In the works, the tuba, interlocked with the live electronics, acts as a meta instrument, while at the same time being the calming influence, the tonally earthy pole of the pieces, no matter whether the works are meticulously fragmented or narratively structured.

In his work that focusses on the interaction between technology and instrument, as noted by Ludger Brümmer in the CD booklet, Melvyn Poore is one of the most fascinating artists of contemporary music.