grenze&flur (fence&field)

i note down the field names along a border. the words are my musical material. they reveal shifts in sound, phonem shifts, and they show that on both sides of the border one finds some same, similar or/and different field names; that the border does not hold back words, language, culture. words and their sounds immigrate and emigrate, spread out, shrink to a singular point and move on. words and sounds as nomads / the unstoppable and impermanent nature of language.

grenze&flur

a project by annette schmucki and heinz peter geissler, nominated for ‘40 for 100’ / ‘Music for the year 2123’ by SUISA

‘the swiss border is 1,935 km long. It is mapped through the sounds of language. the list of field names found describes a multilingual ‘outline’ in the year 2023. each field name listed corresponds to a specific coordinate / a specific bend in the border’s course. as long as the world exists, these coordinates and (former) bends will also exist, whilst linguistic sounds, geography, population density, cultivated land and borders are constantly in flux.’

remebering grenze&flur

annette schmucki and heinz peter geissler;
9 short concerts, each held 10 years apart

grenze&flur_west

4 instruments and 4 voices
ensemble proton
musikfestival bern

moulin neu
le löwenburg
la lucelle
grossfeld
champs des vernes
la lucelle
fischerboden
prîrre
silberloch
holzgraben
mécolis
combe au diable
haeglin et le mécolis la lucelle étang de la lucelle sur le petit étang l'allaine montevie fontaine es borbets essert pierre bron les vieilles gobes devant le val roc au corbeau en craye la vigne essert bourquin beau site mont de miserez rière le mont les tayerats baideval aichiron la blanche terre fahy monsieur au fahy rière le fahy sur montaingo sur les chorchevez la chaluet côte boinay dos les grands bois le corbery la goutte boinay chainats de la peute soutte planches de l'essertz les ronds prérats cabane (ausschnitt)

grenze&flur_südsüdwest

dépendance / pour fatira 60'

it is a kind of litany of 8 speaking loops of different lengths.
the loops contain field names that circle the cabin.
the loops also contain footsteps from the castle to the cabin in the rough september grass.
the steps are adapted to the speaking voice and degenerate into trashy sound/rhythm patterns.
in addition, a recording right next to the cabin serves as a sometimes swelling ground. birds, corrugated iron cracking, a few footsteps, quiet machine noise. and there are four inserts: refuge, cabane, schutzhütte, verhau.
the narrator of the circles of field names is called fatira. she works in the castle.
this piece is for her.