Nonclassical bringen Ende des Monats ein neues Album der Komponistin und Mehrfachinstrumentalistin Quinta heraus, das – wie der Titel bereitsandeutet – ganz der dem vom Wind bespielten Aeolsharfegewidmet ist und diese in klanglich unterschiedlich starker Verfremdung präsentiert und mit diversen anderen Klangquellen ergänzt: Streichinstrumente, Piano, Elektronik, Feldaufnahmen unterschiedlicher Art, Stimme und Kontrabass von Gastmusiker Thanos Polymeneas-Liontiris. Das Album erscheint als CD und zum Download, wer am 12. März 2023 in London ist, kann eine Aufführung des Projektes live im Rahmen des Events the greenhouse effect im Barbican Conservatory miterleben.
“During a period living in Greece, Quinta designed and hand-built Aeolian harps – harps which resonate with the wind. Their sound is ethereal and distinctive, characterised by the rising and falling of harmonic frequencies created by the wind. The sonority varies according to the strength and character of the wind and the various materials used to make each harp, including string type and length. Quinta touches on her interest in political ecology and music as she states: “I understood early on that I couldn’t compel the harps to sing. The limits imposed by these instruments I couldn’t make play by touching obliged me to be creative in an entirely different way – and this felt political”. In the tracks ‘Meltemia’ and ‘Aeolus’, violin arpeggios and minimal piano accompany the sound of the harps as it builds in intensity. In turn, the track ‘Horologion’ is decisively more experimental with re-synthesised harp frequencies generating a kind of tape warmth. The album is underpinned by field recording – nearby birds, barking dogs, creaking trees or a bee flying into a harp string – keeping the music close to the Greek landscape it was written for. The result is a meditative album, flickering between drones and strings and always with the unique sound of the Aeolian harps at its heart.” (Nonclassical)