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The popular music of the past meets experimental musicians of the present in the Mechanical Music Mashup.
The popular music of the past meets experimental musicians of the present in the Mechanical Music Mashup. Heather Frasch, Hainbach and Joseph Kudirka reinterpret the mechanical musical instruments in the "Musica di Strada" exhibition and present their results in the sonorous old water reservoir in Prenzlauer Berg.
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Mechanical Music Mashup im Wasserspeicher, Begleitveranstaltung zur Ausstellung Musica di Strada
The exhibition Musica di Strada. Italians in Prenzlauer Berg - Trade, Crafts & Music in the Pankow Museum tells the story of Italian families who built mechanical musical instruments in Berlin Prenzlauer Berg until the mid-20th century. In the course of the extensive renovation of the Märkisches Museum over several years, the unique collection of mechanical musical instruments from the City Museum in Pankow is on display: barrel organs, game pianos and orchestrions.
From the 19th century onwards, mechanical instruments brought music to people who could not play themselves: pianos and orchestrions were in restaurants and gambling halls, whistle clocks in middle-class living rooms. The barrel organ was found in the streets, in the backyards, at the fairground.
Today it is not just the music on the drums or perforated belts that is of acoustic interest. Mechanical instruments not only reproduce music, but play the music anew every time - this creates wonderful mechanical noises that are perfect for experimental music: the raising of the claves when the music is played, the turning of the hand crank, the pneumatics when compressed air is in the generated inside the instrument.
The small water reservoir with its historic ambience and extraordinary sound is a special event location: the deep water reservoir supplied the emerging neighborhood with water from 1856 - a time when the barrel organ was played in the surrounding streets. Today the water reservoir is a popular venue for experimental music.
Registration: The water reservoir has a limited capacity. We therefore ask that you register by September 20th, 2023 by email to: museumsek@ba-pankow.berlin.de - A maximum of two tickets are available per person. Admission is free.
A notice:
The water reservoir is barrier-free. Barrier-free toilets are located in the Pankow Museum opposite and are accessible during the concert. If you need support, please contact the Pankow Museum in advance of the event.
Please bring warm clothes with you. The temperature in the water reservoir is only 8-10 °C all the time.
About the artists:
In addition to exploring sounds associated with specific objects, Heather Frasch is also deeply involved in what might be termed "sonic memory": how sounds and the history of their perception shape listeners' personal memories and relationships shape inside.
Hainbach has his own relationship with historical sound generators, being particularly interested in how their history is formed - how they and their outputs change and even degrade over time. He doesn't see these changes as something negative, however, but finds ways to appreciate the special beauty of what might have seemed broken, worn, or crooked to the original creators of the instruments.
Joseph Kudirka has direct experience with mechanical instruments: he builds windable music boxes from parts of Swiss music boxes from the mid-20th century. He has recently recorded pieces by contemporary composers (e.g. Christian Wolff, Maya Verlaak, Eleni Poulou) for hand-operated music boxes.
Additional information
Registration/Booking: The water reservoir has a limited capacity. We therefore ask that you register by September 20th. By email to: museumsek@ba-pankow.berlin.de A maximum of two tickets are available per person.
There is a limited number of tickets available at the box office on site.
Accessibility
The water reservoir is barrier-free. Barrier-free toilets are located in the Pankow Museum opposite and are accessible during the concert. If you need support, please contact the Pankow Museum in advance of the event.
Please bring warm clothes with you. The temperature in the water reservoir is only 8-10 °C all the time.
