frank bretschneider: sinn + form

Raster-Noton co-founder Frank Bretschneider's new project Sinn + Form (Meaning and Form) is based on the conflict between the fundamentally chaotic world described by mathematical and physical theories and models (dynamical systems, probability theory, stochastic systems) and the constant human attempt to recognize, describe, predict, control, and change this world. Musically, Bretschneider simulates this concept with a modular synthesizer system, in which various modules produce a constant flow of randomly generated data that modulate the decisive musical parameters (pitch, note length, volume, tone). Sinn + Form, in this context, attempts to transform this stream of events into a musically relevant system of chaos and order, dynamics and statics, content and form, by means of an improvised but deliberate process of constant control and influence. Aesthetically, the project recalls the electronic music of the mid-20th century, exemplified by such studios as the Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique in Paris, Elektronmusikstudion in Stockholm, Studio for Electronic Music of the West German Radio in Cologne, and the Columbia-Princeton Electronic Music Center in New York. Sinn + Form captures the dynamics and energy of a spontaneous improvisation as a reaction to a complex world, a world in permanent crisis. Recorded in July of 2014 at Elektronmusikstudion, Stockholm, using Buchla and Serge analog synthesizer systems.