Bernhard Günter

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Bernhard Günter (* 1957 in Neuwied ) is a German composer and improvisation musician ( soprano , alto saxophone , clarinet , guitar , live electronics). His compositions are influenced by Morton Feldman .

Live and act

Günther initially played tabla and was influenced by free jazz . Then he switched to drums and jazz guitar . In the 1980s he studied in Paris at IRCAM with Pierre Boulez ; he turned to electronic music and expanded his access to include sampling . Unlike John Oswald , John Wall , or David Shea , for example , he is not interested in the recognizability of noises. For him, the subjective perception is decisive, whereby he distinguishes between three states ("duration", "here" and "now").

His first album, Un Peu de Neige Salie (1993), was listed on The Wire's “100 Records That Set the World on Fire (While No One Was Listening)” . "An abyss of silence and emptiness opens up here in front of the listener, provided that he is willing to expose himself to this experience of the slightest tones." While his music was initially based on click noises and sine wave brush strokes, it has become more complex over the next few years , but is still characterized by calm. He also worked with other sound artists such as John Duncan , Ralf Wehowsky, Asmus Tietchens , Richard Chartier and Merzbow . In recent years he has improvised with Heribert Friedl, Gary Smith and Guillaume Séguron . He forms the improvisation duo Brachklang with the musician Ingo Weiß .

In 1995 he founded his own label, Trente Oiseaux . His composition the ant moves / the black and yellow carcass / a little closer was highlighted at the 1999 Prix ​​Ars Electronica .

Discographic notes

  • Buddha with the Sun Face / Buddha with the Moon Face (1998)
  • Time, Dreaming Itself (1999)
  • Crossing the River (2001)
  • Redshift / Farewell (2001)
  • Workshop (Rude Awakening / Microscope 2008)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ The Wire - 100 Most Important Records Ever Made ( Memento from January 5, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Andreas Bick: Bernhard Günter - un peu de neige salie ( Memento from November 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive )
personal data
SURNAME Günter, Bernhard
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German composer and improvisation musician (soprano, alto saxophone, clarinet, guitar, live electronics)
DATE OF BIRTH 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH Neuwied