German Electrophonic Orchestra makes world tour stop in Moscow, Maine
The three-man ensemble started its tour in Moscow, Russia, and came to Maine on the way to Montreal to see another Moscow.
MOSCOW — It wasn’t a concert anyone expected Thursday afternoon from Rochus Aust/1st German Electrophonic Orchestra at the Moscow Elementary School gymnasium.
But it was good, attendees said. Different, but good.
The three-man ensemble started its tour in Moscow, Russia, and came to Maine on the way to Montreal to see another Moscow.
MOSCOW — It wasn’t a concert anyone expected Thursday afternoon from Rochus Aust/1st German Electrophonic Orchestra at the Moscow Elementary School gymnasium.
But it was good, attendees said. Different, but good.
The Rochus Aust/1st German Electrophonic Orchestra plays on Thursday at Moscow Elementary School in the Somerset County town of Moscow. The three-man band is on a 51-stop world tour that began in Moscow, Russia. Video screen capture by Doug Harlow
The Rochus Aust/1st German Electrophonic Orchestra plays on Thursday at Moscow Elementary School in the Somerset County town of Moscow. The three-man band is on a 51-stop world tour that began in Moscow, Russia. Video screen capture by Doug Harlow
1ST GERMAN ELECTROPHONIC ORCHESTRA AT MOSCOW ELEMENTARY SCHOOL
The three-piece electronic ensemble dressed in yellow jumpsuits used a synthesizer, an old sound board, amplifiers, household electronic appliances such as hair dryers, coffee grinders, electric razors and can openers, and a theremin, which is an electronic musical instrument in which the tone is generated by two high-frequency oscillators with the pitch controlled by the movement of the performer’s hand.
It was called Electro-Iconic Bridge.
It was the klaxon radio signals of the mothballed Cold War radar station in the town of Moscow meeting the Soviet dinosaur wars of Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov’s “Fatal Eggs” in a controlled cacophony of electronic sound, said group founder Rochus Aust, of Cologne, Germany.
In the end, he said, what is left is only the sound of the Geiger counter measuring the ionizing radiation of the post-apocalypse.
“After that war, we only have radiation,” Aust said.
All very eclectic, indeed.
But it seemed to work, said 13-year-old Hunter Moore, of Moscow.
“It was pretty good,” Hunter said after the show. “It was different than what you would ever hear. It was really nice. That was pretty cool.”
Others in the audience agreed, saying they didn’t expect the strange sounds coming from the gymnasium stage, but they liked what they heard.
“It was interesting,” said Pauline LaGasse, 68. “I’ve never heard anything like it, but I enjoyed it. It wasn’t my type of music. I like rock ‘n’ roll. It was interesting. It was different. It was amazing.”
Lorraine Collins also used “amazing” to describe the music.
“I enjoyed all the different aspects of it,” Collins said, “the different sounds.”
Donald Beane, the town’s first selectman, said the group contacted the town after seeing what its travel route would be after opening earlier this month in the Moscow that is Russia’s capital. They will perform in 51 locations in the United States and Europe through November.
“They contacted us. They’re on their way to Montreal,” Beane said. “They chose us because of our name. It’s nice that they thought of us. We’re very pleased to have them here.”
Performer Florian Zwissler, 46, said each show is different with specific material for each performance.
“The tablature — what we write down — is internal, and we build it up together,” he said. “We try not to explain everything, and just let it go. I usually don’t like composers or musicians explaining what they do and then do it. It usually doesn’t work so nice.”
Aust, 39, along with his son, Jokubas Aust, 16, and Zwissler, apply their sound using the household appliances, the microphones and the amplifiers to “shape the signal” of sound.
The resultant sound from two long tables on the stage is a grinding, whistling, popping, humming and groaning mixed with the sounds of the theremin and music, like hydraulic orchestral maneuvers finally fading to silence.
“It’s indescribable music,” Rochus Aust said. “It’s electrophonic music — using electronics to make music. We have influences from the kitchen and also from the market which sells machines for the farmers, and we say it’s music by current.”
As for starting the tour in Moscow, Russia, with a population of 12 million, and touring through tiny Moscow, Maine, with a population of about 570, the differences aren’t as dramatic as one might assume, Aust said.
“We felt that it was a very nice audience to play to,” he said.
He said people in Russia understood the music, as did the audience in Maine, so “it’s not so far away from each other”.
“Besides from the geographic thing, I think it’s almost the same — everybody are mankind.”
The three-piece electronic ensemble dressed in yellow jumpsuits used a synthesizer, an old sound board, amplifiers, household electronic appliances such as hair dryers, coffee grinders, electric razors and can openers, and a theremin, which is an electronic musical instrument in which the tone is generated by two high-frequency oscillators with the pitch controlled by the movement of the performer’s hand.
It was called Electro-Iconic Bridge.
It was the klaxon radio signals of the mothballed Cold War radar station in the town of Moscow meeting the Soviet dinosaur wars of Russian author Mikhail Bulgakov’s “Fatal Eggs” in a controlled cacophony of electronic sound, said group founder Rochus Aust, of Cologne, Germany.
In the end, he said, what is left is only the sound of the Geiger counter measuring the ionizing radiation of the post-apocalypse.
“After that war, we only have radiation,” Aust said.
All very eclectic, indeed.
But it seemed to work, said 13-year-old Hunter Moore, of Moscow.
“It was pretty good,” Hunter said after the show. “It was different than what you would ever hear. It was really nice. That was pretty cool.”
Others in the audience agreed, saying they didn’t expect the strange sounds coming from the gymnasium stage, but they liked what they heard.
“It was interesting,” said Pauline LaGasse, 68. “I’ve never heard anything like it, but I enjoyed it. It wasn’t my type of music. I like rock ‘n’ roll. It was interesting. It was different. It was amazing.”
Lorraine Collins also used “amazing” to describe the music.
“I enjoyed all the different aspects of it,” Collins said, “the different sounds.”
Donald Beane, the town’s first selectman, said the group contacted the town after seeing what its travel route would be after opening earlier this month in the Moscow that is Russia’s capital. They will perform in 51 locations in the United States and Europe through November.
“They contacted us. They’re on their way to Montreal,” Beane said. “They chose us because of our name. It’s nice that they thought of us. We’re very pleased to have them here.”
Performer Florian Zwissler, 46, said each show is different with specific material for each performance.
“The tablature — what we write down — is internal, and we build it up together,” he said. “We try not to explain everything, and just let it go. I usually don’t like composers or musicians explaining what they do and then do it. It usually doesn’t work so nice.”
Aust, 39, along with his son, Jokubas Aust, 16, and Zwissler, apply their sound using the household appliances, the microphones and the amplifiers to “shape the signal” of sound.
The resultant sound from two long tables on the stage is a grinding, whistling, popping, humming and groaning mixed with the sounds of the theremin and music, like hydraulic orchestral maneuvers finally fading to silence.
“It’s indescribable music,” Rochus Aust said. “It’s electrophonic music — using electronics to make music. We have influences from the kitchen and also from the market which sells machines for the farmers, and we say it’s music by current.”
As for starting the tour in Moscow, Russia, with a population of 12 million, and touring through tiny Moscow, Maine, with a population of about 570, the differences aren’t as dramatic as one might assume, Aust said.
“We felt that it was a very nice audience to play to,” he said.
He said people in Russia understood the music, as did the audience in Maine, so “it’s not so far away from each other”.
“Besides from the geographic thing, I think it’s almost the same — everybody are mankind.”
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