Mikrophonie I Excerpts

Mikrophonie I (1964) is a very important composition by Karlheinz Stockhausen, written for tam-tam and live electronics, to be performed by four percussionists and two musicians at the filters and sound projection.

I had the great pleasure to perform the piece with the Ensemble Sillages in 2016. Percussionists were Hélène Colombotti, Maxime Echardour, Laurent Mariusse and Vincent Leterme; Stéphane Sordet and I were playing the filters and sound projection. Here are excerpts from our January 2016 performance of Mikrophonie I:

Although a first glance at the score might suggest that the piece is all about experimentation and noise, numerous rehearsals and performances led me to realize that Stockhausen used quite traditional composition techniques. This is especially stunning when you consider the different sections, in which he uses polyphony, accompanied soli, or homorhythmic orchestral tutti.

Mikrophonie outdoors

After performing the piece in Brest and Paris, we performed outdoors, during the Festival Lieux Mouvants in Village Saint-Antoine, Lanvivain.

These two performances on August 6, 2016, featured dancers Catherine Legrand & Dominique Jégou, who performed to a choreography by Dominique Jégou.

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