Pioneering experimentalist Phill Niblock presented a survey of his musical and cinematic work.
Programme:
3 to 7 – 196 (December 1974, 23mins 40sec), David Gibson, cello, recorded samples; Robert Engelbrecht of Nelly Boyd, cello live
This historic piece is the first where Niblock precisely tuned the musician with tuning tones and thought in hertz.
One Large Rose (2008, 46mins), commissioned and recorded by the Nelly Boyd Ensemble, Hamburg, Germany, a realisation of the modified orchestra B of Three Orchids
Niblock’s composition, One Large Rose, was released as part of the Touch Strings album on Touch. It was performed by Nelly Boyd.
Performers:
Robert Engelbrecht, cello
Jan Feddersen, piano played with a pulled nylon cord
Peter Imig, violin
Jens Rohm, acoustic bass guitar, played with an e-bow and a pulled nylon cord
Films:
Max (1966 – 68, 7 minutes). Filmed by Phill Niblock, edited by David Gearey. An image collage film / portrait of Max Neuhaus, with a collage sound track by Max Neuhaus. Black and White 16mm film transferred to video.
The Movement of People Working – China (1989, 120mins). Filmed by Phill Niblock, 16mm film transferred to video.
Niblock is a New York-based minimalist composer and multi-media musician and director of Experimental Intermedia, a foundation born in the flames of 1968’s barricade-hopping. He has been a maverick presence on the fringes of the avant garde ever since. In the history books, Niblock is the forgotten Minimalist. He is a pioneer of ‘overtone’ compositions, with his performances signified by monolithic microtonal drones played alongside his own films. With this event, Niblock gave a preview of his then-upcoming release on Touch: TOUCH STRINGS.
Nelly Boyd are a composers’ collective and performing ensemble, founded in 2004 in Hamburg, Germany. Among others, they have presented works by John Cage, Morton Feldman, Terry Riley, Karlheinz Stockhausen and James Tenney, and have played with Christian Wolff and Alvin Lucier. Nelly Boyd appears regularly at the festivals ‘Blurred Edges’ and ‘Klub Katarakt’ in Hamburg and has played at Podewil, Berlin and Experimental Intermedia, New York.
The night was dedicated to the late Max Neuhaus.
Park Nights 2009
Park Nights is an annual series of events staged every Friday night in the Serpentine Gallery Pavilion. The 2009 programme included music, theatre, performances, talks and film screenings. The season culminated in October with Poetry Marathon, the latest in the Gallery’s acclaimed series of Marathons, conceived by Hans Ulrich Obrist, Serpentine Gallery Co-Director.
Park Nights with Phill Niblock was presented by the Serpentine Gallery in association with The Wire. It was produced by Andi Studer – Cenatus and supported by PRS Foundation’s New Music Plus.
