All members of the European Music Project (EMP) ensemble are soloists with vast experience in classical ensemble performances along with improvisation and experimental styles. The EMP is synonymous with innovative programme concepts, elaborate presentation techniques and a philosophy of engaging with a wide variety of audiences. Many of its projects are developed in collaboration with artists from the fields of dance, visualarts and literature. EMP draws parallels – between classical modernism and the present day, between chamber music and club sounds. Its music is set against the backdrop of a world in a state of flux and the ensuing cultural and social challenges. EMP experiments with different spatial, sound and performance concepts, threading the boundaries between concert performances, ritualism, installation, staging and spontaneity. The ensemble has a varying constellation, ranging from a trio to a chamber ensemble.
I can think, whether standing or sitting. “I can think” is a song about the nature of knowledge and portrays thinking as something fundamental and independent. Knowledge, on the other hand, is not a clearly defined, objective construct, but has evolved historically from traditions that were often labeled “irrational” or“superstitious.” Scientists are the “descendants” of witches and hermits who sought to understand nature and the cosmos through observation, symbols, and rituals. The track explores this human ability and asks where knowledge might lead us and what we will ever truly “know”—for example, about the universe. These reflections unfold against a jazzy soundscape that creates a dense, suspenseful atmosphere. A dripping cave serves as an electronic space in which a captivating, minimalist structure of constantly shifting harmonies between the vibraphone and double bass unfolds, with the vocal part – interspersed with spoken text – taking centre stage.
‘Men perhaps’ is the first single release from the upcoming double CD of the musical audio drama ‘The Mark on the Wall’ by Stepha Schweiger, based on the stream-of-consciousness short story of the same name by Virginia Woolf, performed by the European Music Project ensemble. ‘Men perhaps’ unfolds a dense, essayistic soundscape exploring the more or less visible norms of our society. In the same way, Whitaker’s Table of Precedency appears to dictate its irrefutable hierarchy. Yet gradually, as if by magic, these laws slip away until, in the end, only phantoms remain. In this process, the voices and electronic instruments mysteriously merge with the resonant space as a floating web of overlapping proximity and distance, order and dissolution, and ambivalence. Clear gestures meet fragile textures; steady rhythms dissolve into microtonal nuances, pauses and a delicate wall of sound.
