Dublin Fixations

John Butcher + 11:
John Butcher, saxophones
Dieb13, turntables
Ståle Liavik Solberg, drums
Sophie Agnel, piano
Isabell Duthois, voice & clarinet
6 others to be confirmed

 

John Butcher Dublin Fixations

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In John Butcher’s Dublin Fixations, the musicians bring their own, very personal languages into a composition based on what Butcher calls psychological orchestration: a process of imagining how particular musicians might respond to particular directives, in this work combining precise notation, text, imagery, instructions and pre-recordings. The latter are new pieces that use ‘close-miking’ to manipulate some of the ‘hidden’ sound possibilities of the saxophone. These are then cut to vinyl and manipulated live by turntablist Dieb13.

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Dublin Fixations naturally moves between small-scale, highly individual combinations and the orchestral totality of these collective forces, aiming to create a coherent structure and sense of unity that still encourages improvisation, so that the musicians engage with the mystery of the work’s internal logic in the spontaneity of the moment.