When it comes to MANTRA, bigger is usually better, so it was a particular delight for us to be invited to perform this larger-than-life work in Northwestern University’s Pick-Staiger Concert Hall for NUNC3!. The hall was really a dream for this piece… feedback is typically a fearsome creature in electro-acoustic music, but at several points in MANTRA Stockhausen was evidently interested in the unpredictability and nebulous harmonicity that can emerge from over-driving the ring modulators with a little feedback. Pick-Staiger was large enough to avoid any direct feedback (which is unpleasant), but the resonance of the room made for some especially beautiful “ringing tones” at these particular points in the piece. We’re grateful to the faculty and staff of Northwestern for their help, and especially to Hans Thomalla for being a superb host.
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