To finish up this concert season, Ensemble Proton presents two new works by Saad Haddad and Marc Sabat, in which two extraordinary instruments come together: the fascinating 36-tone arciorgano designed by Nicola Vicentino and reconstructed by Basel's Studio 31+, and in stark contrast the innovative electronic instrument lumatone, which has a total of 280 hexagonal keys.
Marc Sabat works in the field of computer-generated live electronics and is inspired by studies of sound and perception as well as by American folk, experimental music and minimalist music. In his new piece for Ensemble Proton, he references Mexican music pioneer Erv Wilson (1928-2016), who developed a microtonal system of pitch based on his experiences with Mexican and American folk.
Saad Haddad examines the different qualities and traditions of the Middle East and the Western world in his work. In this newly commissioned work he pursues Nicola Vicentino's vision of the arciorgano, in which the instrument should serve musicians of all cultures and uses Vicentino's 16th century pitch system to do so.
Together these works create a space in which historical traditions and contemporary sounds melt into one another.
