PULSE branching

In the organizer's words:

The progressive string quartet PULSE presents branching

In branching, we devote ourselves entirely to our habitat: experiences of nature, mountains, growth, branching patterns: these themes form the basis of the compositions by John Luther Adams, inti figgis-vizueta, Christian Vásquez and Luis Fernando Amaya. We survey the American continent from north to south: from Alaska, via Mexico and the Andes to Tierra del Fuego. This is where the composers come from and this is where they take us. An imaginary journey takes us along the coastal mountains of the American continent: we hear the grandeur of snow-capped mountains, the barrenness of the altiplano, ancient dances of the Selknam: the indigenous people of Tierra del Fuego.

In our technologized world, we want to pay homage to nature and present it in all its grandeur, beauty and fascination. Two works by Chilean composers will be premiered: by Christian Vásquez, who lives in Bremen, and by Pablo Vergara, who lives and teaches in Santiago. PULSE has a long-standing artistic friendship with both of them. John Luther Adams discovered a unique musical world based on space, silence and elemental forces during his almost 40 years of life in northern Alaska. In the 1970s and 1980s, he worked full-time as an environmental activist. His monumental work untouched, as the title suggests, manages entirely without the fingers touching the fingerboard. inti figgis-vizueta is a New York-based composer with Andean roots and writes works whose openness invites the performers to contribute creatively to the work themselves. In Luis Fernando Amaya's music, themes such as collective memory and the relationship between humans and non-humans (such as plants, animals or the environment) are often present in his works.