Week of Surprise: Thomas Ankersmit “Perceptual Geography”

Dieses Konzert findet in der Christuskirche statt: Dorothee-Sölle-Platz 1, 50672 Köln

"...it starts to feel like a crack opening in reality. It's music of serene disruption..." (Quietus)

Despite the electronic instrumentation, the impression of a living landscape is created: there are sparks of fire, howling wind, distant thunder, a swarm of bats disappears in the distance. Ghostly floating sounds contrast with highly dynamic sounds that whiz around the listener, or large, heavy waves that slowly roll in.

In "Perceptual Geography," Ankersmit explores different "modes" of listening: not only which sounds are heard and when, but also how and where they are experienced (in space, in the body, in the head, in the distance, in the near). "Ear tones", which - triggered by the music - first arise in the listener's ear - weave through the textures, reacting even to subtle head movements or touching the ears with the hands. The musical use of these "otoacoustic emissions" was first systematically explored by the pioneering composer and installation artist Maryanne Amacher, whose essay ""Psychoacoustic Phenomena in Musical Composition: Some Features of a Perceptual Geography" gave the piece its title. Ankersmit met Amacher in New York more than 20 years ago, and her concerts and installations made a deep impression on him.

Each live performance of "Perceptual Geography" is tuned by Ankersmit to the resonance properties of the respective performance space in such a way that the sounds activate the existing architectural structure and set it in motion.