Šalter Ensemble

Bridging the gap between improvised and notated work, the pan-European Šalter Ensemble injects yet another element into its program as electronic impulses are added to the uncommon instrumental grouping which make up the 11-member ensemble. Each of the tracks has as its starting point a composition by group members, Austrian pianist Elisabeth Harnik (“Šum II”); Slovenian bassist Tomaž Grom (“My Wish is Your Command”) and a joint effort by two Swiss, electronics player Gaudenz Badrutt and accordionist Jonas Kocher (“Interstices/Interferences”).

Although each piece depends on specific prompts, free music spontaneity or aleatoric decisions drive the narratives. For instance Harnik’s integration of phrases from a Sylvia Plath poem voiced, sometimes in whispers, by Irena Z. Tomažin, shares space with widening sul ponticello strokes from the string players. Additionally, the perception behind the words is intensified by their situation besides timbral snudges from Kocher’s accordion and Samo Kutin’s hurdy gurdy, with Badrutt’s electronic drone creating a continuum. Sonic pressure is enhanced as intermittent piano notes turn processional and climax with repeated hard keyboard clashes. Before settling into a mellow conclusion with intertwined acoustic and electronic smears, the lonesome sounding exposition “Interstices/Interferences” gains its strength as static and silent interludes are followed by authoritative shifts including alto saxophonist Ilia Belorukov’s whinnying tongue stops, trumpeter Alfred Lang’s near-Baroque puffs and Harnik’s piano patterning.

Based on responses to mechanically-trigged drum beats, the introductory “My Wish is Your Command” makes most use of the ensembles’ talents and  is definitely compositional, with the defining leitmotif repeated throughout the piece. As the tempo speeds up and slows down stop time episodes emphasize string, horns, keyboard and percussion, with accordion reverb and electronic cackles as likely to be in focus as hollow-sounding smacks from Josef Klammer’s augmented percussion, trumpet triplets or responsive piano tropes.

The Šalter Ensemble may not be the final word – or sound – of the creation of an unparalleled program blending notated, free music and electronic sounds, but it comes very close to doing so.

–Ken Waxman

Track Listing: 1. My Wish is Your Command 2. Interstices/Interferences 3. Šum II

Personnel: Alfred Lang (trumpet); Ilia Belorukov (alto saxophone); Estelle Beiner (violin); Elisabeth Harnik (piano, objects); Jonas Kocher (accordion); Tomaž Grom (bass, electronics); Samo Kutin (hurdy gurdy); Josef Klammer (augmented percussion); Gaudenz Badrutt (electronics); Irena Z. Tomažin (voice) and Špela Trošt (production, external eye)