- Musik Akademie der Stadt Basel, Hochschule für Musik, Faculty Memberadd
- Music, Research Methodology, Artistic Research of Music, Game Theory, Dieter Roth, Arnold Schoenberg, and 23 moreDavid Tudor, Fluxus, Organology, Orchestration, Field Recording, Musicking, Music as a tool for social change, Soundscape Studies, Sound studies, Sound Studies, Field Recording, Interdisciplinarity, Collaborative and Participatory Arts, Indeterminacy, John Cage, Music Theory, Musicology, Music analysis, Musical Analysis, Artistic Research, Methodologies for Artistic Research, Oswald Wiener, German Expressionism, and Extended techniques in musicedit
- Michel Roth, born 1976 in Altdorf, lives in Lucerne/Switzerland. He is professor of composition and music theory at t... moreMichel Roth, born 1976 in Altdorf, lives in Lucerne/Switzerland. He is professor of composition and music theory at the Hochschule für Musik Basel and member of its research department. As long-time director of the Lucerne Studio for Contemporary Music, he worked with Pierre Boulez, Helmut Lachenmann and Peter Eötvös, among others. Many radio and CD productions document his work, for which he has received numerous prizes and grants. His works can be heard regularly at international music festivals, including the opera "Im Bau" (2012, Theater Basel, Zurich, Barcelona) and the depressive operetta "Die Künstliche Mutter" (2016, Lucerne Festival, Gare du Nord Basel). He also researches and publishes on music-theoretical and interdisciplinary topics with a focus on game theory and indeterminacy (e.g. David Tudor), collaborative art (e.g. Dieter Roth and his "Rarely Heard Music"), organology (e.g. trombone and percussion playing techniques) and acoustic ecology and resonance phenomena (field recordings of Alpine cablecar ropes). In 2022 he received his doctorate in musicology from the University of Basel.
www.michelroth.ch
www.sonicspacebasel.ch/de/team/dozierende.htmledit
An interdisciplinary research project supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation has investigated the sound topography of the small ropeways in the Schächen Valley in Uri (Switzerland). It is a dense network of cables that are... more
An interdisciplinary research project supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation has investigated the sound topography of the small ropeways in the Schächen Valley in Uri (Switzerland). It is a dense network of cables that are stretched over the steep slopes to transport people and materials and play a decisive economic and social role throughout the year.
The performance of this "network" has been investigated using historiographic and sociological methods (including oral history) on the one hand, and on the other hand it was documented photographically and also explored acoustically through extensive field recording.
Spontaneous oscillations of ropes lasting for hours were discovered and recorded, which gave the project a great international media echo under the label "ropeway music" but which opened up an as yet unexploited source of everyday knowledge of the locals.
The hybrid publication (print/digital/open access) brings together a dozen conversations as a polyphonic oral history along all the main ropeways of the Schächen Valley. Scientific the contributions shed light on historical, social and cultural contexts. Christof Hirtler provides insights into the world and daily use of those places and infrastructures. The sound recordings by Michel Roth listen into the interior of this widely ramified technological and social network: Numerous QR codes allow to discover this unique landscape by reading, looking and listening.
Michel Roth and Romed Aschwanden (eds.); contributions by Romed Aschwanden, Roland Baumgartner, Kilian Gasser, Julia Glanzmann, Christof Hirtler, Iris Högy, Michel Roth, Oliver Rutz and Rahel Wunderli. Bildfluss-Verlag, Altdorf 2023, ISBN: 978-3-9525870-0-3.
The performance of this "network" has been investigated using historiographic and sociological methods (including oral history) on the one hand, and on the other hand it was documented photographically and also explored acoustically through extensive field recording.
Spontaneous oscillations of ropes lasting for hours were discovered and recorded, which gave the project a great international media echo under the label "ropeway music" but which opened up an as yet unexploited source of everyday knowledge of the locals.
The hybrid publication (print/digital/open access) brings together a dozen conversations as a polyphonic oral history along all the main ropeways of the Schächen Valley. Scientific the contributions shed light on historical, social and cultural contexts. Christof Hirtler provides insights into the world and daily use of those places and infrastructures. The sound recordings by Michel Roth listen into the interior of this widely ramified technological and social network: Numerous QR codes allow to discover this unique landscape by reading, looking and listening.
Michel Roth and Romed Aschwanden (eds.); contributions by Romed Aschwanden, Roland Baumgartner, Kilian Gasser, Julia Glanzmann, Christof Hirtler, Iris Högy, Michel Roth, Oliver Rutz and Rahel Wunderli. Bildfluss-Verlag, Altdorf 2023, ISBN: 978-3-9525870-0-3.
Research Interests:
In the exhibition book "And away with the minutes. Dieter Roth and Music" an interdisciplinary dialogue between the art historian and curator Matthias Haldemann (Kunsthaus Zug) and the composer and music researcher Michel Roth (Hochschule... more
In the exhibition book "And away with the minutes. Dieter Roth and Music" an interdisciplinary dialogue between the art historian and curator Matthias Haldemann (Kunsthaus Zug) and the composer and music researcher Michel Roth (Hochschule für Musik Basel) is dedicated to the music-related works and collaborative projects of Dieter Roth and places them in the context of his complete oeuvre. With the involvement of two curators of further Roth exhibitions - the fluxus specialist Gabriele Knapstein (Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof Berlin) and Sven Beckstette (Kunstmuseum Stuttgart) - connections to concrete poetry, the Viennese group, Fluxus and artist music are worked out. A concluding discussion with the improviser Walter Fähndrich examines the history and topicality of Roth's music-making in the context of the collaboration Rarely Heard Music ("Selten gehörte Musik"). Numerous colour illustrations of the works and previously unknown documents illustrate these discussions, supplemented by a chronology according to the latest state of research and a detailed scientific apparatus. A DVD with an excerpt from the video recording of the Abschöpfsymphonie from 1979 (first publication) is enclosed with the exhibition book as an encore.
Research Interests:
Commented new edition of the score of Dieter Roth's "Splittersonate", a diary-like musical score written over almost three decades (1965-1994). With an introduction by Michael Kunkel and Michel Roth. Originally published by the artist... more
Commented new edition of the score of Dieter Roth's "Splittersonate", a diary-like musical score written over almost three decades (1965-1994). With an introduction by Michael Kunkel and Michel Roth.
Originally published by the artist himself (300. Kopiebuch, "Bibliothek des Angefangenen", Bd. 2).
Originally published by the artist himself (300. Kopiebuch, "Bibliothek des Angefangenen", Bd. 2).
Research Interests:
In 2014, Edizioni Periferia published a comprehensive catalogue raisonné of Dieter Roth’s musical oeuvre and his activities as an editor of music (german/english). Within this book, Michel Roth offers brief essays on the assorted and... more
In 2014, Edizioni Periferia published a comprehensive catalogue raisonné of Dieter Roth’s musical oeuvre and his activities as an editor of music (german/english). Within this book, Michel Roth offers brief essays on the assorted and hardly known contents of Roth's works (based on dozens of hours of listening analysis of the LPs and original tapes), with a special focus on Roth's collaborations under the label Rarely Heard Music ("Selten gehörte Musik").
There is a long list of records, CDs and cassettes that document the music of Dieter Roth. He played in many ensembles and made recordings, both in public concerts and in private spaces. One important series of audio documents is the collection of different records with the collective title "Selten gehörte Musik" (Rarely heard music). These recordings were made in collaboration with friends and artist colleagues such as Günter Brus, Oswald Wiener, Gerhard Rühm, Dominik Steiger, Christian L. Attersee, Hermann Nitsch and Arnulf Rainer. In addition to this, Dieter Roth was also active as a music publisher. He released numerous records and cassettes by Hermann Nitsch, Dominik Steiger and André Thomkins, but also music by less famous friends.
Dieter Roth und die Musik. Discography, Edizioni Periferia, Poschiavo/Luzern 2014. ISBN 978-3906016344
There is a long list of records, CDs and cassettes that document the music of Dieter Roth. He played in many ensembles and made recordings, both in public concerts and in private spaces. One important series of audio documents is the collection of different records with the collective title "Selten gehörte Musik" (Rarely heard music). These recordings were made in collaboration with friends and artist colleagues such as Günter Brus, Oswald Wiener, Gerhard Rühm, Dominik Steiger, Christian L. Attersee, Hermann Nitsch and Arnulf Rainer. In addition to this, Dieter Roth was also active as a music publisher. He released numerous records and cassettes by Hermann Nitsch, Dominik Steiger and André Thomkins, but also music by less famous friends.
Dieter Roth und die Musik. Discography, Edizioni Periferia, Poschiavo/Luzern 2014. ISBN 978-3906016344
Research Interests:
Excerpt from the book on the contemporary playing technique of percussion with special emphasis on mallets and other types of excitation. The book also contains a series of essays written by renowned composers and performers such as... more
Excerpt from the book on the contemporary playing technique of percussion with special emphasis on mallets and other types of excitation.
The book also contains a series of essays written by renowned composers and performers such as Nicolaus A. Huber, Jan Williams, Steven Schick and Alberto Posadas (see "contents").
Additionally, a database with instructive videos is available on the website of the publisher (https://www.baerenreiter.com/shop/produkt/details/BVK2406/).
In collaboration with the percussionists Christian Dierstein and Jens Ruland. Part of the well-known Bärenreiter Series of Books on playing techniques.
The book also contains a series of essays written by renowned composers and performers such as Nicolaus A. Huber, Jan Williams, Steven Schick and Alberto Posadas (see "contents").
Additionally, a database with instructive videos is available on the website of the publisher (https://www.baerenreiter.com/shop/produkt/details/BVK2406/).
In collaboration with the percussionists Christian Dierstein and Jens Ruland. Part of the well-known Bärenreiter Series of Books on playing techniques.
Research Interests:
Interdisciplinary discours about Arnold Schoenberg and his two painter friends Richard Gerstl and Wassily Kandinsky. Paintings such as Gerstl's "Group Portrait with Schoenberg" or Kandinsky's "Impression 3 (Concert)" are juxtaposed with... more
Interdisciplinary discours about Arnold Schoenberg and his two painter friends Richard Gerstl and Wassily Kandinsky. Paintings such as Gerstl's "Group Portrait with Schoenberg" or Kandinsky's "Impression 3 (Concert)" are juxtaposed with Schoenberg's monodrama "Erwartung" and his "Piano Pieces op. 11". Thereafter the focus is expanded on the Blue Rider, Alexander Scriabin, the Gesamtkunstwerk, theories of dissonance, geometric abstraction, twelve-tone technique, and synaesthesia.
Towards the end, the conversation between the art historian Matthias Haldemann (Kunsthaus Zug) and the two music theorists Andreas Brenner and Michel Roth (College of Music Lucerne) also includes Pierre Boulez, who expresses himself equally as an interpreter of the Second Viennese School and as a compositional admirer and follower of this epoch.
The provided scan is part of the publication:
Matthias Haldemann (Ed.): Harmonie und Dissonanz. Gerstl Schönberg Kandinsky. Malerei und Musik im Aufbruch, Kunsthaus Zug in Zusammenarbeit mit der Musikhochschule Luzern, Einleitung von Christian Meyer, ausführlicher interdisziplinärer Gesprächstext von Andreas Brenner, Matthias Haldemann, Michel Roth und einer abschliessenden Diskussion mit Pierre Boulez, Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2006. ISBN 978-3-7757-1821-9
Most of the sections with paintings have been removed due to copyright issues.
Towards the end, the conversation between the art historian Matthias Haldemann (Kunsthaus Zug) and the two music theorists Andreas Brenner and Michel Roth (College of Music Lucerne) also includes Pierre Boulez, who expresses himself equally as an interpreter of the Second Viennese School and as a compositional admirer and follower of this epoch.
The provided scan is part of the publication:
Matthias Haldemann (Ed.): Harmonie und Dissonanz. Gerstl Schönberg Kandinsky. Malerei und Musik im Aufbruch, Kunsthaus Zug in Zusammenarbeit mit der Musikhochschule Luzern, Einleitung von Christian Meyer, ausführlicher interdisziplinärer Gesprächstext von Andreas Brenner, Matthias Haldemann, Michel Roth und einer abschliessenden Diskussion mit Pierre Boulez, Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2006. ISBN 978-3-7757-1821-9
Most of the sections with paintings have been removed due to copyright issues.
Research Interests:
"Das magische Quadrat" is an experience for Schoenberg beginners and connoisseurs. As an archive of rarely accessible material, the box is at the same time an unusual, stimulating instrument for conveying music and art history in school... more
"Das magische Quadrat" is an experience for Schoenberg beginners and connoisseurs. As an archive of rarely accessible material, the box is at the same time an unusual, stimulating instrument for conveying music and art history in school and private music lessons.
Arnold Schoenberg was one of the most famous composers of the 20th century. Musicians, scholars, and historians draw on full archives of life and work; publications and exhibitions deal with many aspects of his artistic biography. For the interested layman, this wealth of material often represents an excessive demand. What has been lacking so far is a concise presentation of Arnold Schönberg as a multi-talent that is also suitable for music lessons for young people. This unique "pocket museum" conveys information in a playful and tangible way - and entertains without being afraid of the difficult, complex work. The various objects, which as facsimiles and reprints bring aspects of the work to life, are dedicated to Schoenberg's various forms of musical, visual and literary-philosophical expression.
The CD, specially produced for the box, contains original sounds by the composer and some of his contemporaries, selected compositions illustrating his work, and works by other artists on his life and work.
Published by the Musikhochschule Luzern and the Arnold Schönberg Center, Vienna.
Editors: Flurina Paravicini-Tönz, Michel Roth, Annette Landau, Claudia Emmenegger, Eike Feß.
With texts by Markus Böggemann, Claudia Emmenegger, Eike Feß, Andreas Jacob, Ursula Pia Jauch, Annette Landau, Christian Meyer, Bruno Pisek, Michel Roth and others.
Design: Max Christian Graeff
Book box with ten booklets and exercise material, 1 CD, 1 folding object.
Sturdy cardboard box, 33 × 23 × 7 cm.
2006
ISBN 978-3-907474-23-5
Arnold Schoenberg was one of the most famous composers of the 20th century. Musicians, scholars, and historians draw on full archives of life and work; publications and exhibitions deal with many aspects of his artistic biography. For the interested layman, this wealth of material often represents an excessive demand. What has been lacking so far is a concise presentation of Arnold Schönberg as a multi-talent that is also suitable for music lessons for young people. This unique "pocket museum" conveys information in a playful and tangible way - and entertains without being afraid of the difficult, complex work. The various objects, which as facsimiles and reprints bring aspects of the work to life, are dedicated to Schoenberg's various forms of musical, visual and literary-philosophical expression.
The CD, specially produced for the box, contains original sounds by the composer and some of his contemporaries, selected compositions illustrating his work, and works by other artists on his life and work.
Published by the Musikhochschule Luzern and the Arnold Schönberg Center, Vienna.
Editors: Flurina Paravicini-Tönz, Michel Roth, Annette Landau, Claudia Emmenegger, Eike Feß.
With texts by Markus Böggemann, Claudia Emmenegger, Eike Feß, Andreas Jacob, Ursula Pia Jauch, Annette Landau, Christian Meyer, Bruno Pisek, Michel Roth and others.
Design: Max Christian Graeff
Book box with ten booklets and exercise material, 1 CD, 1 folding object.
Sturdy cardboard box, 33 × 23 × 7 cm.
2006
ISBN 978-3-907474-23-5
Research Interests:
Music plays a central role in the artistic oeuvre of Dieter Roth. This limited box edition is a series of publications that aims to describe Dieter Roth’s musical editions as precisely as possible, to offer a scholarly assessment of them... more
Music plays a central role in the artistic oeuvre of Dieter Roth. This limited box edition is a series of publications that aims to describe Dieter Roth’s musical editions as precisely as possible, to offer a scholarly assessment of them and to create a comprehensive documentation of them for the very first time.
The box edition contains the following publications and LPs:
– And away with the minutes*, catalogue for the exhibitions in Zug and Berlin
(authors: Matthias Haldemann and Michel Roth, among others)
– Discography*, a catalogue raisonné of Dieter Roth’s work as musician and music publisher
(author: Michel Roth, among others)
– Harmonica Curse* is a long-term diary from the year 1981 comprising words, images and sounds
– Rarely heard conversations is a documentation with keywords and time codes for circa 25 hours of recorded conversations with Hansjörg Meier, Oswald Wiener, Arnulf Rainer, Christian Attersee, Dominik Steiger, Günther Brus, Björn Roth, Hermann Nitsch and Gerhard Rühm.
(authors: Flurina Paravicini and Michel Roth)
– Quadruple concerto, which was performed in 1977 at the Basel Music Academy, is here released for the first-ever time on 3 LPs, together with a facsimile poster of the original concert. A detailed study of this concert and a scholarly commentary can be found in the accompanying book.
(author: Michael Kunkel)
– Disklavier, a DVD featuring a piano improvisation by Dieter Roth from the year 1992.
– Splittersonate, a new edition of the 126-page score for piano and voice from the years 1980 to 1987. Commented edition by Michael Kunkel and Michel Roth
The publications marked with an asterisk * may be purchased individually in bookshops.
The limited box edition can be ordered from the publisher: edizioni periferia, Lucerne
https://periferia.ch/en/produkt/dieter-roth-and-music/
The box edition contains the following publications and LPs:
– And away with the minutes*, catalogue for the exhibitions in Zug and Berlin
(authors: Matthias Haldemann and Michel Roth, among others)
– Discography*, a catalogue raisonné of Dieter Roth’s work as musician and music publisher
(author: Michel Roth, among others)
– Harmonica Curse* is a long-term diary from the year 1981 comprising words, images and sounds
– Rarely heard conversations is a documentation with keywords and time codes for circa 25 hours of recorded conversations with Hansjörg Meier, Oswald Wiener, Arnulf Rainer, Christian Attersee, Dominik Steiger, Günther Brus, Björn Roth, Hermann Nitsch and Gerhard Rühm.
(authors: Flurina Paravicini and Michel Roth)
– Quadruple concerto, which was performed in 1977 at the Basel Music Academy, is here released for the first-ever time on 3 LPs, together with a facsimile poster of the original concert. A detailed study of this concert and a scholarly commentary can be found in the accompanying book.
(author: Michael Kunkel)
– Disklavier, a DVD featuring a piano improvisation by Dieter Roth from the year 1992.
– Splittersonate, a new edition of the 126-page score for piano and voice from the years 1980 to 1987. Commented edition by Michael Kunkel and Michel Roth
The publications marked with an asterisk * may be purchased individually in bookshops.
The limited box edition can be ordered from the publisher: edizioni periferia, Lucerne
https://periferia.ch/en/produkt/dieter-roth-and-music/
Research Interests:
In the exhibition book "Und weg mit den Minuten - Dieter Roth und die Musik" (also available in english) an interdisciplinary dialogue between the art historian and curator Matthias Haldemann (Kunsthaus Zug) and the composer and music... more
In the exhibition book "Und weg mit den Minuten - Dieter Roth und die Musik" (also available in english) an interdisciplinary dialogue between the art historian and curator Matthias Haldemann (Kunsthaus Zug) and the composer and music researcher Michel Roth (Hochschule für Musik Basel) is dedicated to the music-related works and collaborative projects of Dieter Roth and places them in the context of his complete oeuvre. With the involvement of two curators of further Roth exhibitions - the fluxus specialist Gabriele Knapstein (Nationalgalerie im Hamburger Bahnhof Berlin) and Sven Beckstette (Kunstmuseum Stuttgart) - connections to concrete poetry, the Viennese group, Fluxus and artist music are worked out. A concluding discussion with the improviser Walter Fähndrich examines the history and topicality of Roth's music-making in the context of the collaboration Rarely Heard Music ("Selten gehörte Musik"). Numerous colour illustrations of the works and previously unknown documents illustrate these discussions, supplemented by a chronology according to the latest state of research and a detailed scientific apparatus. A DVD with an excerpt from the video recording of the Abschöpfsymphonie from 1979 (first publication) is enclosed with the exhibition book as an encore.
The hereby uploaded proof reading copy contains some small notes and corrections and differs therefore from the final edition.
The hereby uploaded proof reading copy contains some small notes and corrections and differs therefore from the final edition.
Research Interests:
Excerpt from the book on contemporary trombone playing techniques (in collaboration with Mike Svoboda). Part of the Bärenreiter Verlag's well-known series on contemporary playing techniques and awarded with the German Music Edition Prize... more
Excerpt from the book on contemporary trombone playing techniques (in collaboration with Mike Svoboda).
Part of the Bärenreiter Verlag's well-known series on contemporary playing techniques and awarded with the German Music Edition Prize as "Best Edition".
Part of the Bärenreiter Verlag's well-known series on contemporary playing techniques and awarded with the German Music Edition Prize as "Best Edition".
Research Interests:
As part of the research project on Dieter Roth and Music, the research group visited and interviewed his fellow players. The videos of the mostly several hours long and extraordinary conversations (with Günter Brus, Hermann Nitsch,... more
As part of the research project on Dieter Roth and Music, the research group visited and interviewed his fellow players. The videos of the mostly several hours long and extraordinary conversations (with Günter Brus, Hermann Nitsch, Gerhard Rühm and Oswald Wiener, among others) are available online (http://blogs.fhnw.ch/dieterrothmusic/selten-gehorte-gespraeche/). This book publication was part of a bibliophilic book box about Dieter Roth. It provides a keyword indexing of the above-mentioned interviews combined with expedition reports on the sometimes adventurous circumstances of these encounters.
Research Interests:
A playful approach to twelve-tone technique and in particular the genesis of Arnold Schönberg's Suite Op. 29. The booklet is part of a pocket museum with 12 objects on the life and work of the composer (Edizioni Periferia, Luzern 2006, in... more
A playful approach to twelve-tone technique and in particular the genesis of Arnold Schönberg's Suite Op. 29. The booklet is part of a pocket museum with 12 objects on the life and work of the composer (Edizioni Periferia, Luzern 2006, in collaboration with the Schönberg Center Vienna). It is conceived and to read according to the four transformations of the row (prime form, inversion, retrograde, retrograde inversion) and contains a bunch of sketches related to Op. 29.
In the center of the book appears the famous bidirectional row table which encourages to turn the booklet and to continue to read in another direction. Not visible in the scan: The publication included two mirrored inside cover pages to facilitate reading.
In collaboration with my three former students Aruna Buser, Daniella Gerszt and Letizia Ineichen.
In the center of the book appears the famous bidirectional row table which encourages to turn the booklet and to continue to read in another direction. Not visible in the scan: The publication included two mirrored inside cover pages to facilitate reading.
In collaboration with my three former students Aruna Buser, Daniella Gerszt and Letizia Ineichen.
Research Interests:
An artistic investigation into intrinsic interval structures in Nicola Vicentino's 2nd Tuning of 1555. The essay first uses a purely musical typography and presents specific characteristics of the tuning system by means of musical... more
An artistic investigation into intrinsic interval structures in Nicola Vicentino's 2nd Tuning of 1555. The essay first uses a purely musical typography and presents specific characteristics of the tuning system by means of musical symbols, and then applies these findings creatively in five composed studies for Vicentino's Arciorgano. For scholarly purposes, a commentary is included at the end to make the musical essay easier to read and understand.
Research Interests:
A short, introductory text on the occasion of the first integral performance of Cornelius Cardew's ‘The Great Learning’ in Basel.
Research Interests:
A short preview of my extended study on the sonority and acoustic ecology of alpine ropeways, first published in the online journal "Syntopia Alpina"... more
A short preview of my extended study on the sonority and acoustic ecology of alpine ropeways, first published in the online journal "Syntopia Alpina" (https://www.syntopia-alpina.ch/beitraege/vielsaitige-instrumente-schaechentaler-seilbahnen-als-klangliche-akteure-und-resonanzkoerper), now in a print version (but without sound examples) in an anthology of the Urner Institut Kulturen der Alpen an der Universität Luzern.
Research Interests:
A sound sociological study and artistic research on small Alpine ropeways in the Schächen Valley (Uri, Switzerland), especially on the phenomenon of "singing ropes", i.e. spontaneous natural oscillations of the ropes as resonators of... more
A sound sociological study and artistic research on small Alpine ropeways in the Schächen Valley (Uri, Switzerland), especially on the phenomenon of "singing ropes", i.e. spontaneous natural oscillations of the ropes as resonators of their complex environment. The research project also aimed to expand the repertoire of methods, so the text describes a range of new tools and approaches between field recording and participatory observation, soundscape studies and oral history, actor network theory and sonification. Many sound examples show the richness of this soundscape and exemplify the potential to use this acoustic data not only artistically, but also for cultural studies or even in the natural sciences.
The text is a chapter of the book "Singende Seile. Die Seilbahnlandschaft des Urner Schächentals", edited by Michel Roth and Roman Aschwanden, bildfluss-Verlag, Altdorf 2023, pp. 124-163.
The text is a chapter of the book "Singende Seile. Die Seilbahnlandschaft des Urner Schächentals", edited by Michel Roth and Roman Aschwanden, bildfluss-Verlag, Altdorf 2023, pp. 124-163.
Research Interests: Alpine Research, Soundscape Studies, Acoustic Ecology, Artistic Research, Soundscape (Music), and 5 moreActor Network Theory (ANT), Actor-Network-Theory, Actor-Network Theory, Alpine Research (alpine social-ecological systems, alpine macro-regional dynamics, alpine tourism and global/regional environmental and social change), and Sound Studies, Field Recording
In January 2023, the Basel Academy of Music hosted the festival "SPIEL! Games as Critical Practice", curated by Michel Roth. Large parts took place in public space, in the Foyer Public of the Theater Basel, whereby the festival made its... more
In January 2023, the Basel Academy of Music hosted the festival "SPIEL! Games as Critical Practice", curated by Michel Roth. Large parts took place in public space, in the Foyer Public of the Theater Basel, whereby the festival made its subject to the mode of the discourse and invited the audience to play along, critically observe and discuss. The aim was to bring together normally unconnected gaming communities and playing competences and thus to put the dimensions of musical play to the test in a new way. A work report.
Published in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, June 2023, pp. 30-33.
Published in the Neue Zeitschrift für Musik, June 2023, pp. 30-33.
Research Interests:
A study of aspects of breaking the rules, spoiling the game, counterplaying and refusing to play in recent music, especially as far as aesthetic strategies and attitudes are concerned, or as far as deliberately discursive and disruptive... more
A study of aspects of breaking the rules, spoiling the game, counterplaying and refusing to play in recent music, especially as far as aesthetic strategies and attitudes are concerned, or as far as deliberately discursive and disruptive artistic processes are intended.
Here, there are connections to ongoing debates in critical game design (e.g. Mary Flanagan, McKenzie Wark), but also to Jennifer Walshe's "New Discipline" (among others).
With examples by Dieter Roth, Oswald Wiener (Selten gehörte Musik), John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, Hans Wüthrich, Vinko Globokar, John Zorn, James Saunders, Hannes Seidl and Michel Roth.
published in:
Marion Saxer (verst.) / Karin Dietrich / Julian Kämper (Hg.)
Musik als Spiel – Spiel als Musik. Die Integration von Spielkonzepten in zeitgenössischer Musik, Musiktheater und Klangkunst, pp. 111-150.
Here, there are connections to ongoing debates in critical game design (e.g. Mary Flanagan, McKenzie Wark), but also to Jennifer Walshe's "New Discipline" (among others).
With examples by Dieter Roth, Oswald Wiener (Selten gehörte Musik), John Cage, Cornelius Cardew, Hans Wüthrich, Vinko Globokar, John Zorn, James Saunders, Hannes Seidl and Michel Roth.
published in:
Marion Saxer (verst.) / Karin Dietrich / Julian Kämper (Hg.)
Musik als Spiel – Spiel als Musik. Die Integration von Spielkonzepten in zeitgenössischer Musik, Musiktheater und Klangkunst, pp. 111-150.
Research Interests:
An essay about the inventor Arnold Schönberg, beginning with his everyday designs and juxtaposing them with his musical innovations: the twelve-tone technique, special archiving and manipulation devices for series up to his long-term... more
An essay about the inventor Arnold Schönberg, beginning with his everyday designs and juxtaposing them with his musical innovations: the twelve-tone technique, special archiving and manipulation devices for series up to his long-term reflections on music notation and semiotics. Finally is discussed how these models and inventions can be regarded as works by the composer.
This scan is based on a bibliophile edition of the paper, where all the color illustrations were added as individual pages to the main text. In the present PDF, some of the pictues are therefore placed after the text.
The original has been published as one object of the box: Musikhochschule Luzern, Arnold Schönberg Center, Wien (Ed.): Das Magische Quadrat, eine Annäherung an den Visionär Arnold Schönberg, multimediale Buchbox mit 10 Druck- und Spielobjekten, einer CD und einem Vexieretui von und über Arnold Schönberg, zahlreiche Originalbeiträge u. a. von Ch. Meyer, M. Roth, M. Böggemann, U.P. Jauch, C. Emmenegger, A. Jacob, E. Fess und einem Geleitwort von Nuria Schönberg-Nono, Edizioni Periferia, Poschiavo/Luzern 2006. ISBN 978-3-907474-23-5
This scan is based on a bibliophile edition of the paper, where all the color illustrations were added as individual pages to the main text. In the present PDF, some of the pictues are therefore placed after the text.
The original has been published as one object of the box: Musikhochschule Luzern, Arnold Schönberg Center, Wien (Ed.): Das Magische Quadrat, eine Annäherung an den Visionär Arnold Schönberg, multimediale Buchbox mit 10 Druck- und Spielobjekten, einer CD und einem Vexieretui von und über Arnold Schönberg, zahlreiche Originalbeiträge u. a. von Ch. Meyer, M. Roth, M. Böggemann, U.P. Jauch, C. Emmenegger, A. Jacob, E. Fess und einem Geleitwort von Nuria Schönberg-Nono, Edizioni Periferia, Poschiavo/Luzern 2006. ISBN 978-3-907474-23-5
Research Interests:
Short review and reflection of the interdisciplinary art exhibition project "Harmony and Dissonance, Gerstl Schönberg Kandinsky, Painting and Music on the Move" (2006, Kunsthaus Zug, Switzerland). In collaboration with the renowned... more
Short review and reflection of the interdisciplinary art exhibition project "Harmony and Dissonance, Gerstl Schönberg Kandinsky, Painting and Music on the Move" (2006, Kunsthaus Zug, Switzerland). In collaboration with the renowned museum, the Lucerne Music Academy, the Lucerne Festival, the Edizioni Perfiferia and the Arnold Schönberg Center Vienna, an ambitious, cross-media mediation of early modernism in painting and music was created. The complex mixture of exhibited sources and works, the mixed formats of guided tours and concerts, workshops, discussions and even students who regularly practised, experimented or researched documents in the exhibition during the opening hours created a low-threshold and process-oriented mediation of an art epoch characterised itself by new beginnings and the dissolution of boundaries.
Research Interests:
An essay on Arnold Schönberg's concept of "Klangfarbenmelodie" and its application and meaning beyond a purely timbral interpretation. On the one hand, a very early reception of the concept by Ernst Kurth is discussed, on the other hand,... more
An essay on Arnold Schönberg's concept of "Klangfarbenmelodie" and its application and meaning beyond a purely timbral interpretation. On the one hand, a very early reception of the concept by Ernst Kurth is discussed, on the other hand, documents from Schönberg's late period are consulted. Ultimately, it is precisely in its utopian transgression of categories and dimensions that the concept proves to be productive and sustainably effective.
Research Interests:
Starting from a lecture on Bernd Alois Zimmermann, given in 1990 by the Basel composer Jacques Wildberger, similarities between the two composers and in particular their reflection on the timbral functionality and interplay of musical... more
Starting from a lecture on Bernd Alois Zimmermann, given in 1990 by the Basel composer Jacques Wildberger, similarities between the two composers and in particular their reflection on the timbral functionality and interplay of musical instruments are examined. The recourse to Beethoven's cello sonatas plays an important role here.
Research Interests:
The small cable cars and wild hay ropes in Uri swing in sync with the weather and the seasons. You can listen to their interplay and produce techno music from it, for example. The online article published in German provides insights into... more
The small cable cars and wild hay ropes in Uri swing in sync with the weather and the seasons. You can listen to their interplay and produce techno music from it, for example.
The online article published in German provides insights into my artistic research project in the Central Swiss Alps and includes characteristic audio examples (field recording).
Link: https://www.syntopia-alpina.ch/beitraege/vielsaitige-instrumente-schaechentaler-seilbahnen-als-klangliche-akteure-und-resonanzkoerper
The online article published in German provides insights into my artistic research project in the Central Swiss Alps and includes characteristic audio examples (field recording).
Link: https://www.syntopia-alpina.ch/beitraege/vielsaitige-instrumente-schaechentaler-seilbahnen-als-klangliche-akteure-und-resonanzkoerper
Research Interests:
Music is a social art, it demands participation. This not only applies to those who play and listen, but also to participating composing as a preliminary and ordering activity and curiously accompanying, discovering collaboration. The... more
Music is a social art, it demands participation. This not only applies to those who play and listen, but also to participating composing as a preliminary and ordering activity and curiously accompanying, discovering collaboration. The different roles of participation, their institutions and their creative and communicative strategies can be described as an interaction game. This essay is written in the form of a conversation between the four ghosts of the computer game Pac Man. But similarities with existing spirits and flashes of inspiration are not accidental. The text can be understood as the staking out of a playing field of different applications of the game concept and theories of the game in composed and improvised music. All statements are numbered consecutively so that, if necessary, readers can locate their own positions and opinions in this discursive network of coordinates.
Research Interests: Game Theory, Cybernetics, Game Design, Transdisciplinarity, Systems Theory, and 15 moreFluxus, John Cage, John Zorn, Gamification, Indeterminacy, Oswald Wiener, Cornelius Cardew, Ludomusicology, David Tudor, Dieter Roth, Christian Wolff (composer), Pacman, Perspectives of New Music, Darmstädter Ferienkurse, and game theory and art
A short essay (in German) on the relationship between games and space, especially game-immanent spaces such as in pinball machines, each with their own furnishings and narratives, and game venues such as pinball clubs as social spaces... more
A short essay (in German) on the relationship between games and space, especially game-immanent spaces such as in pinball machines, each with their own furnishings and narratives, and game venues such as pinball clubs as social spaces with their own rituals and aesthetics.
The essay was written as a by-product of the composition SPIEL HÖLLE (UA 2021), which took place as a performance in a pinball club. Thus the text quotes well-known commentaries from (talking) pinball machines.
The essay was written as a by-product of the composition SPIEL HÖLLE (UA 2021), which took place as a performance in a pinball club. Thus the text quotes well-known commentaries from (talking) pinball machines.
Research Interests:
In 2014, the ensemble Klangforum Wien commissioned some new compositions based on tapes with improvisations on the Ondiola (an early electronic instrument) by Giacinto Scelsi. This put the composers involved in a similar situation to... more
In 2014, the ensemble Klangforum Wien commissioned some new compositions based on tapes with improvisations on the Ondiola (an early electronic instrument) by Giacinto Scelsi. This put the composers involved in a similar situation to Scelsi's assistants: they had to make transcriptions of his pre-recorded music and transform and quantize his microtonal and non-metric playing into more or less conventional scores.
The way Scelsi composed also triggered a discourse on musical authorship, especially when one of the assistants, Vieri Tosatti, claimed to be the creator of this music himself.
Michel Roth was one of the initiators and composers of this project in 2014 and experienced in a kind of artistic self-experiment what it means to write "a Scelsi". In this essay he describes and reflects the process with poetic cross-references to Tosatti (as a writer).
An analysis of Roth's (resulting) ensemble piece "MOI" by the musicologist Pietro Cavallotti has been published in the same book.
Published in: Björn Gottstein, Michael Kunkel (ed.): Scelsi Revisited Backstage, Pfau, Friedberg 2020, pp. 200-206.
The way Scelsi composed also triggered a discourse on musical authorship, especially when one of the assistants, Vieri Tosatti, claimed to be the creator of this music himself.
Michel Roth was one of the initiators and composers of this project in 2014 and experienced in a kind of artistic self-experiment what it means to write "a Scelsi". In this essay he describes and reflects the process with poetic cross-references to Tosatti (as a writer).
An analysis of Roth's (resulting) ensemble piece "MOI" by the musicologist Pietro Cavallotti has been published in the same book.
Published in: Björn Gottstein, Michael Kunkel (ed.): Scelsi Revisited Backstage, Pfau, Friedberg 2020, pp. 200-206.
Research Interests:
Music is a social art, it demands participation. This not only applies to those who play and listen, but also to participating composing as a preliminary and ordering activity and curiously accompanying, discovering collaboration. The... more
Music is a social art, it demands participation. This not only applies to those who play and listen, but also to participating composing as a preliminary and ordering activity and curiously accompanying, discovering collaboration. The different roles of participation, their institutions and their creative and communicative strategies can be described as an interaction game.
This essay is written in the form of a conversation between the four ghosts of the computer game Pac Man. But similarities with existing spirits and flashes of inspiration are not accidental. The text can be understood as the staking out of a playing field of different applications of the game concept and theories of the game in composed and improvised music. All statements are numbered consecutively so that, if necessary, readers can locate their own positions and opinions in this discursive network of coordinates.
The hereby uploaded version has been published by the German journal MusikTexte in February 2020.
Link to the online version:
https://texte.musiktexte.de/mt-164/268/ein-spieltheoretisches-quartett-uber-relationales-komponieren
An alternative version as a video essay is available under: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O270r3Or7yw
This essay is written in the form of a conversation between the four ghosts of the computer game Pac Man. But similarities with existing spirits and flashes of inspiration are not accidental. The text can be understood as the staking out of a playing field of different applications of the game concept and theories of the game in composed and improvised music. All statements are numbered consecutively so that, if necessary, readers can locate their own positions and opinions in this discursive network of coordinates.
The hereby uploaded version has been published by the German journal MusikTexte in February 2020.
Link to the online version:
https://texte.musiktexte.de/mt-164/268/ein-spieltheoretisches-quartett-uber-relationales-komponieren
An alternative version as a video essay is available under: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O270r3Or7yw
Research Interests:
Protocol of a complete reading of all 27 orchestral works by the Swiss composer Hermann Meier (1906-2002): 1670 pages; 15585 bars. Published in: Heidy Zimmermann, Michelle Ziegler, Roman Brotbeck (ed.), Mondrian-Musik. Die graphischen... more
Protocol of a complete reading of all 27 orchestral works by the Swiss composer Hermann Meier (1906-2002): 1670 pages; 15585 bars.
Published in:
Heidy Zimmermann, Michelle Ziegler, Roman Brotbeck (ed.), Mondrian-Musik. Die graphischen Welten des Komponisten Hermann Meier, Chronos, Zürich 2017, pp. 95-116.
Scores available at: http://aart-verlag.ch/
Published in:
Heidy Zimmermann, Michelle Ziegler, Roman Brotbeck (ed.), Mondrian-Musik. Die graphischen Welten des Komponisten Hermann Meier, Chronos, Zürich 2017, pp. 95-116.
Scores available at: http://aart-verlag.ch/
Research Interests:
A short essay on Arnold Schoenberg and Wassily Kandinsky on the occasion of the 100th issue of the Swiss Journal "Dissonanz/Dissonance" (2007). At first, Kandinsky's "Impression 3 (Konzert)" and Schoenberg's "Blick" (1910) are compared... more
A short essay on Arnold Schoenberg and Wassily Kandinsky on the occasion of the 100th issue of the Swiss Journal "Dissonanz/Dissonance" (2007). At first, Kandinsky's "Impression 3 (Konzert)" and Schoenberg's "Blick" (1910) are compared and reciprocal concepts of monadic unity identified. On this basis some historically simultaneous developments in music, especially in Schoenberg's "Die glückliche Hand" are discussed.
Published in: Michel Roth, „Ton, Dissonanz, ‚Palettenschmutz’, neue Spannungsgrade bei Kandinsky und Schönberg“, in: Dissonanz, Nr. 100 (Dezember 2007), p. 12-13.
Published in: Michel Roth, „Ton, Dissonanz, ‚Palettenschmutz’, neue Spannungsgrade bei Kandinsky und Schönberg“, in: Dissonanz, Nr. 100 (Dezember 2007), p. 12-13.
Research Interests:
This article has been published in a by the editor strongly modified version in the book "Querschnitt. 111 Werke aus 50 Jahren Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik" (Wolke Verlag, Hofheim 2019, pp. 190-191). Since I am still hanging a... more
This article has been published in a by the editor strongly modified version in the book "Querschnitt. 111 Werke aus 50 Jahren Wittener Tage für neue Kammermusik" (Wolke Verlag, Hofheim 2019, pp. 190-191). Since I am still hanging a little on my version, the original text is also made available here.
Research Interests:
(Self) critical essay on the application of sonagrams and similar tools in musical analysis and aesthetic practice. Based on a lecture at the symposium "Les espaces sonores" (2012) and at the same time work report on the composition... more
(Self) critical essay on the application of sonagrams and similar tools in musical analysis and aesthetic practice. Based on a lecture at the symposium "Les espaces sonores" (2012) and at the same time work report on the composition process of my work "MOI" for large ensemble (after tapes by Giacinto Scelsi, commissioned by Klangforum Wien).
The document published here differs slightly from the printed version.
Published in: Michael Kunkel (Hrsg.): Les Espaces Sonores. Stimmungen, Klanganalysen, spektrale Musiken, Pfau Verlag, Büdingen 2016, S. 78–96. ISBN 978-3897275416
The document published here differs slightly from the printed version.
Published in: Michael Kunkel (Hrsg.): Les Espaces Sonores. Stimmungen, Klanganalysen, spektrale Musiken, Pfau Verlag, Büdingen 2016, S. 78–96. ISBN 978-3897275416
Research Interests:
Conversation with Thomas Gartmann (Bern University of Applied Sciences) on Michel Roth's opera "Im Bau" (2012, Lucerne Festival/Theater Basel/Barcelona a.o.) for mezzo soprano, ensemble and live-electronics after a fragment by Franz... more
Conversation with Thomas Gartmann (Bern University of Applied Sciences) on Michel Roth's opera "Im Bau" (2012, Lucerne Festival/Theater Basel/Barcelona a.o.) for mezzo soprano, ensemble and live-electronics after a fragment by Franz Kafka. The discussion took place during the composition process and is therefore to be understood as a work report, which is, however, supplemented with materials relating to the libretto and with musical sketches.
Re-upload; in the meantime published in:
Michael Kunkel, Thomas Gartmann (Ed.): Musik – Buchstaben – Musik. Kunst und Forschung an der Hochschule für Musik Basel, Pfau, Saarbrücken 2013, pp. 326-345. ISBN 978-3897274815
Re-upload; in the meantime published in:
Michael Kunkel, Thomas Gartmann (Ed.): Musik – Buchstaben – Musik. Kunst und Forschung an der Hochschule für Musik Basel, Pfau, Saarbrücken 2013, pp. 326-345. ISBN 978-3897274815
Research Interests:
A study on Maurice Ravel's style and genre allusions and montage techniques in his second opera L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, also providing a general insight in the esthetic background of Ravel's late works. Published in: Michael Kunkel... more
A study on Maurice Ravel's style and genre allusions and montage techniques in his second opera L'Enfant et les Sortilèges, also providing a general insight in the esthetic background of Ravel's late works.
Published in: Michael Kunkel e.a. (Hrsg.): Musik – Buchstaben – Musik. Kunst und Forschung an der Hochschule für Musik Basel, Saarbrücken 2013, S. 80–126. ISBN 978-3897274815
Published in: Michael Kunkel e.a. (Hrsg.): Musik – Buchstaben – Musik. Kunst und Forschung an der Hochschule für Musik Basel, Saarbrücken 2013, S. 80–126. ISBN 978-3897274815
Research Interests:
Historical overview of composers from and in Central Switzerland (Lucerne and surrounding area) from the Baroque to the present, including a look at regional ensembles, institutions and festivals of new music. Published in: Alois Koch... more
Historical overview of composers from and in Central Switzerland (Lucerne and surrounding area) from the Baroque to the present, including a look at regional ensembles, institutions and festivals of new music.
Published in: Alois Koch (Ed.): Kreative Provinz. Musik in der Zentralschweiz, Pro Libro Verlag, Luzern 2010, S. 218–245.
Published in: Alois Koch (Ed.): Kreative Provinz. Musik in der Zentralschweiz, Pro Libro Verlag, Luzern 2010, S. 218–245.
Research Interests:
Essay on various phenomena and notions of lines and linearity in music from antiquity (Pythagoras' Monochord) to contemporary installation art (Alvin Lucier's "Music on a long thin wire"). On the occasion of the exhibition "LINEA. Vom... more
Essay on various phenomena and notions of lines and linearity in music from antiquity (Pythagoras' Monochord) to contemporary installation art (Alvin Lucier's "Music on a long thin wire"). On the occasion of the exhibition "LINEA. Vom Umriss zur Aktion"/"LINEA. From Outline to Action" at the Kunsthaus Zug.
Published in: Matthias Haldemann (Ed.): Linea. Vom Umriss zur Aktion: Die Kunst der Linie zwischen Antike und Gegenwart, Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2010, S. 291–310. ISBN 978-3-7757-2795-2
Published in: Matthias Haldemann (Ed.): Linea. Vom Umriss zur Aktion: Die Kunst der Linie zwischen Antike und Gegenwart, Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2010, S. 291–310. ISBN 978-3-7757-2795-2
Research Interests:
Que reste-t-il de la musique quand elle est interprétée par des mélomanes aussi incompétents qu’enfiévrés ? Les trois artistes inclassables Dieter Roth, Gerhard Rühm et Oswald Wiener interrogent la notion du dilettantisme musical.... more
Que reste-t-il de la musique quand elle est interprétée par des mélomanes aussi incompétents qu’enfiévrés ? Les trois artistes inclassables Dieter Roth, Gerhard Rühm et Oswald Wiener interrogent la notion du dilettantisme musical. Parodie et hommage, échec et ouverture sont indissociables dans leur exploration du geste musical que le compositeur Michel Roth nous fait découvrir. Des extraits audio de cette « musique rarement entendue » sont exclusivement disponibles sur
https://www.dissonance.ch/en/archive/main_articles/1146.
What is left of music when it is performed by incompetent and feverish music lovers? The three artists Dieter Roth, Gerhard Rühm and Oswald Wiener question the notion of musical dilettantism. Parody and homage, failure and openness are inseparable in their exploration of the musical gesture that composer Michel Roth introduces us to. Audio excerpts of this "rarely heard music" (Selten gehörte Musik) are exclusively available on https://www.dissonance.ch/en/archive/main_articles/1146.
https://www.dissonance.ch/en/archive/main_articles/1146.
What is left of music when it is performed by incompetent and feverish music lovers? The three artists Dieter Roth, Gerhard Rühm and Oswald Wiener question the notion of musical dilettantism. Parody and homage, failure and openness are inseparable in their exploration of the musical gesture that composer Michel Roth introduces us to. Audio excerpts of this "rarely heard music" (Selten gehörte Musik) are exclusively available on https://www.dissonance.ch/en/archive/main_articles/1146.
Research Interests:
Never before has so much been written about art as today, and yet never before has it been so unclear what a theory of art should achieve at all: Craftsmanship, criticism, Glasperlenspiel? A discussion about hidden theories, compositional... more
Never before has so much been written about art as today, and yet never before has it been so unclear what a theory of art should achieve at all: Craftsmanship, criticism, Glasperlenspiel? A discussion about hidden theories, compositional mass production and the rule of breaking rules.
Noch nie wurde soviel über Kunst geschrieben wie heute, und doch war wohl noch nie so unklar, was eine Theorie der Kunst überhaupt leisten soll: Handwerkslehre, Kritik, Glasperlenspiel? Eine Diskussion über verborgene Theorien, kompositorische Massenfertigung und die Regel des Regelbrechens.
Noch nie wurde soviel über Kunst geschrieben wie heute, und doch war wohl noch nie so unklar, was eine Theorie der Kunst überhaupt leisten soll: Handwerkslehre, Kritik, Glasperlenspiel? Eine Diskussion über verborgene Theorien, kompositorische Massenfertigung und die Regel des Regelbrechens.
Research Interests:
The Swiss composer Christoph Delz (1950-1993) was also a gifted pianist. In many of his works he has composed himself as a performer" into the cast, many pieces also reflect his own pianistical practice. This is particularly evident in... more
The Swiss composer Christoph Delz (1950-1993) was also a gifted pianist. In many of his works he has composed himself as a performer" into the cast, many pieces also reflect his own pianistical practice. This is particularly evident in the first movement of the "2 Nocturnes", which bears the provocative title "Anton von Webern's Last Cigar": Over a long period of time Delz has collected objets trouvés of chords and sounds, mostly functionally inconspicuous, but unconventional triads concerning their setting and position, and assembled them into an irritating panopticon of the always same and always different. The second movement, "Andante ritardando", follows a similar principle, now using gestural and stylistic archetypes. The author of this introductory text studied the sketches in the Paul Sacher Foundation and concludes: "Both movements are the expression of an enraptured look back at the repertoire, but equally marked by disorientation, ambivalence and loss of reality: an abysmal, cheerful play of ciphers and deciphering, darkening and illumination, meaning and possibility."
The present text has been published as part of the CD-Edition Christoph Delz. Complete Works, Vol. 2 (2012).
The present text has been published as part of the CD-Edition Christoph Delz. Complete Works, Vol. 2 (2012).
Research Interests:
The Swiss composer Christoph Delz (1950-1993) used the technique of "transcomposition" in many of his works and meticulously transcribed sound recordings or other source material. In the present case of the orchestral piece "Die Atmer der... more
The Swiss composer Christoph Delz (1950-1993) used the technique of "transcomposition" in many of his works and meticulously transcribed sound recordings or other source material. In the present case of the orchestral piece "Die Atmer der Lydia" it is a recording of the breathing sounds of a woman giving birth, whereby the focus is less on the sounds of breathing than on their rhythmic structure and processuality. The result is an impressive orchestral work, which the author of the introductory text also illuminates in the context of contemporary "breath compositions" by Helmut Lachenmann and Heinz Holliger.
The present text has been published as part of the CD-Edition Christoph Delz. Complete Works, Vol. 1 (2008).
The present text has been published as part of the CD-Edition Christoph Delz. Complete Works, Vol. 1 (2008).
Research Interests:
The article focuses on the phenomenon of the ephemeral in music in general. In piano music, the rapid fading away of tone is normal, and a central component for the regulation of this process, the damper, is called il smorzatore in... more
The article focuses on the phenomenon of the ephemeral in music in general. In piano music, the rapid fading away of tone is normal, and a central component for the regulation of this process, the damper, is called il smorzatore in Italian. The Préludes Op. 28 by Frédéric Chopin will serve as one example; I will later move on to an amateurish piano LP by the Swiss artist Dieter Roth and discuss his playful (and painful) performative thematisation of time's passing and sound fading away. The essay ends with a short study on an orchestral work by the young German composer Hannes Seidl using a kind of inverted MP3 converter.
Published in: Journal of Sonic Studies 13 - Acoustic Ephemeralities;
Article: www.researchcatalogue.net/view/323348/323349
Index: www.researchcatalogue.net/view/558896/558946
Published in: Journal of Sonic Studies 13 - Acoustic Ephemeralities;
Article: www.researchcatalogue.net/view/323348/323349
Index: www.researchcatalogue.net/view/558896/558946
Research Interests:
An interim report and brief insight into my research project on the application of game theory as a music-analytical and discourse-analytical tool to indeterminate music, especially in Europe after John Cage's and David Tudor's... more
An interim report and brief insight into my research project on the application of game theory as a music-analytical and discourse-analytical tool to indeterminate music, especially in Europe after John Cage's and David Tudor's appearances at the Darmstadt Summer Courses in the late 1950s.
Supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and in collaboration with IMD Darmstadt and Lucerne Festival Academy.
Published in: Thomas Schäfer, Michael Rebhahn (Hrsg.), Darmstädter Beiträge zur Neuen Musik, Bd. 23, Schott Mainz 2016, S. 49–57,
Supported by the Swiss National Science Foundation and in collaboration with IMD Darmstadt and Lucerne Festival Academy.
Published in: Thomas Schäfer, Michael Rebhahn (Hrsg.), Darmstädter Beiträge zur Neuen Musik, Bd. 23, Schott Mainz 2016, S. 49–57,
Research Interests:
Essay on music and humor with special and sometimes humorous attention to humoralistic (humor-pathological) paradigms. Published in: Matthias Haldemann/Kunsthaus Zug (Ed.): Komödie des Daseins. Kunst und Humor von der Antike bis heute,... more
Essay on music and humor with special and sometimes humorous attention to humoralistic (humor-pathological) paradigms.
Published in: Matthias Haldemann/Kunsthaus Zug (Ed.): Komödie des Daseins. Kunst und Humor von der Antike bis heute, Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern/Ruit 2018, pp. 414-435.
Published in: Matthias Haldemann/Kunsthaus Zug (Ed.): Komödie des Daseins. Kunst und Humor von der Antike bis heute, Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern/Ruit 2018, pp. 414-435.
Research Interests:
Conference contribution about artistic and musicological research on contemporary playing techniques and their transferability and application in the creative and pedagogical practice. On the occasion of the book presentation of "The... more
Conference contribution about artistic and musicological research on contemporary playing techniques and their transferability and application in the creative and pedagogical practice. On the occasion of the book presentation of "The Techniques of Trombone Playing" by Mike Svoboda and Michel Roth (Bärenreiter, 2017).
Research Interests:
Opening Lecture of the Next Generation Program of the Donaueschinger Musiktage 2022 (in front of approx. 100 music students from all over the world). Call to apply the concept of "musicking" to the Musiktage themselves and to follow the... more
Opening Lecture of the Next Generation Program of the Donaueschinger Musiktage 2022 (in front of approx. 100 music students from all over the world).
Call to apply the concept of "musicking" to the Musiktage themselves and to follow the festival and its environment as participatory and critical observers.
With recourse to practices of Fluxus, conceptualism and artistic intervention, as well as with illustrative examples from my own research projects on the artist group "Selten gehörte Musik" (Rarely Heard Music) and on Alpine Sociology of Sound, a set of terms and tools was developed that the participants could now apply to the Musiktage during the following festival weekend, especially to paradoxes and fields of tension of such an event in its particular social and urban context.
Call to apply the concept of "musicking" to the Musiktage themselves and to follow the festival and its environment as participatory and critical observers.
With recourse to practices of Fluxus, conceptualism and artistic intervention, as well as with illustrative examples from my own research projects on the artist group "Selten gehörte Musik" (Rarely Heard Music) and on Alpine Sociology of Sound, a set of terms and tools was developed that the participants could now apply to the Musiktage during the following festival weekend, especially to paradoxes and fields of tension of such an event in its particular social and urban context.
Research Interests:
Music-theoretical introduction to a key work of the twelve-tone technique: Arnold Schönberg's "Variations for Orchestra op. 31". The seminar was part of Pierre Boulez's conducting master class at the Lucerne Festival Academy in 2011. With... more
Music-theoretical introduction to a key work of the twelve-tone technique: Arnold Schönberg's "Variations for Orchestra op. 31". The seminar was part of Pierre Boulez's conducting master class at the Lucerne Festival Academy in 2011.
With the help of numerous sources from the Arnold Schönberg Center, the presentation attempted to work through the compositional genesis, but also the aesthetic and contemporary historical context of the work. The innovative and sometimes bold texture of the music is juxtaposed with great formal rigour and numerous traditional references to Brahms, Haydn, Bach and the Renaissance. Schönberg's idea of "Fasslichkeit" (comprehensibility) plays a decisive role here, which is also reflected in a curious document where Schönberg presents an alternative, tonal harmonisation of his twelve-tone variation theme as part of a radio broadcast.
With the help of numerous sources from the Arnold Schönberg Center, the presentation attempted to work through the compositional genesis, but also the aesthetic and contemporary historical context of the work. The innovative and sometimes bold texture of the music is juxtaposed with great formal rigour and numerous traditional references to Brahms, Haydn, Bach and the Renaissance. Schönberg's idea of "Fasslichkeit" (comprehensibility) plays a decisive role here, which is also reflected in a curious document where Schönberg presents an alternative, tonal harmonisation of his twelve-tone variation theme as part of a radio broadcast.
Research Interests:
Reflection on the musical concept of material in the 20th century, on the one hand in the philosophy of Henri Bergson as overcoming a "digitally" gridded conception of tonal space and time and a more processual and continuous... more
Reflection on the musical concept of material in the 20th century, on the one hand in the philosophy of Henri Bergson as overcoming a "digitally" gridded conception of tonal space and time and a more processual and continuous understanding of the esthetic experience. On the other hand material progress precisely thanks to an affirmative (and speculative) spatialisation and modularisation of the musical material what Ivan Wyschnegradsky calls "espace". Interestingly, concepts of digitalisation have been used for many centuries here.
Research Interests:
Study of compositional and contrapuntal differences between the piano and orchestral versions of Maurice Ravel's "Valses nobles et sentimentales". In German.
Research Interests:
Development of an aesthetic thought experiment in a comparison of two key works of early modernism: Arnold Schönberg's "Drei Klavierstücke op. 11" and Wassily Kandinsky's "Impression 3 (Konzert)" - the latter refers to a concert visit... more
Development of an aesthetic thought experiment in a comparison of two key works of early modernism: Arnold Schönberg's "Drei Klavierstücke op. 11" and Wassily Kandinsky's "Impression 3 (Konzert)" - the latter refers to a concert visit where Schönberg's piano pieces were heard. A closer analytical look reveals astonishing references, also crosswise to Schönberg's painting and to Kandinsky's recourse to music-theoretical concepts.
Research Interests:
An essayistic lecture that actually interprets Helmut Lachenmann's famous phrase, "To compose is to build an instrument" architecturally. Recursively the talk also reflects that music theory, creative practice and forms of social... more
An essayistic lecture that actually interprets Helmut Lachenmann's famous phrase, "To compose is to build an instrument" architecturally. Recursively the talk also reflects that music theory, creative practice and forms of social "musicking" are embodied in the design of musical instruments.
Research Interests:
Presentation of the Artistic Research Project "Alpine Networks of Connectedness" (Swiss National Science Foundation 2020-2021). The lecture focuses mainly on the methodology of how the dense network of local cableways was investigated... more
Presentation of the Artistic Research Project "Alpine Networks of Connectedness" (Swiss National Science Foundation 2020-2021). The lecture focuses mainly on the methodology of how the dense network of local cableways was investigated using means of sound sociology, field recording and participatory observation. Newly developed methods of acoustic documentation, long-term recording ("Seilsender") and dissemination were also introduced: A Citizen Science project, immersive sound installations in public space, Alpine ropes as beat generators and effect devices in Techno and Industrial Music.
Research Interests:
Slides from a lecture given on several occasions in preparation of the international festival SPIEL! Games as Critical Practice at Hochschule für Musik Basel and Theater Basel (January 2023). The presentation attempts in particular to... more
Slides from a lecture given on several occasions in preparation of the international festival SPIEL! Games as Critical Practice at Hochschule für Musik Basel and Theater Basel (January 2023).
The presentation attempts in particular to describe various forms of indeterminacy, processuality and collaboration with game-theoretical tools, but also to critically reflect discourses on a gamified society within this polyphony of works and applications.
The presentation attempts in particular to describe various forms of indeterminacy, processuality and collaboration with game-theoretical tools, but also to critically reflect discourses on a gamified society within this polyphony of works and applications.
Research Interests:
Slides from a lecture on the compositional significance of vocal formants in modern and contemporary music, especially in the translation of language into instrumental sounds.
Held at the Hochschule für Musik Basel/Musik-Akademie Basel
Held at the Hochschule für Musik Basel/Musik-Akademie Basel
Research Interests:
Lecture given on the occasion of the symposium "The Art of Art Teaching" on teaching composition as a major artistic subject (Basel, April 2024). The text of the lecture was written by my own students under the condition of a collective... more
Lecture given on the occasion of the symposium "The Art of Art Teaching" on teaching composition as a major artistic subject (Basel, April 2024). The text of the lecture was written by my own students under the condition of a collective writing experiment. They received a blank document and Robert Filliou's book "Teaching and Learning as Performance Art" (1970). According to Filliou's book, which leaves a lot of blank space for the readers to enter their own thoughts and comments, a dense document of contributions by the students, some independent, some in dialogue with Filliou, was created and simply read and shown by me at the symposium almost without any editorial cuts.
Some inserted media may be accessed by clicking on them.
Some inserted media may be accessed by clicking on them.
Research Interests:
The artistic research network, which studied the acoustic ecology of Alpine ropeways in the canton of Uri, has published a collection of four scientific posters and four graphic translations of ropeway sounds for various presentation and... more
The artistic research network, which studied the acoustic ecology of Alpine ropeways in the canton of Uri, has published a collection of four scientific posters and four graphic translations of ropeway sounds for various presentation and exhibition purposes. It offers a summary of the broad research activity and impact of this unusual project.
Editor: Michel Roth
Graphic Design: Julia Glanzmann
Contributions: Hanspeter Schmid, Megi Zumstein, Christof Hirtler, iCompetence FHNW students.
Participating institutions: Hochschule für Musik Basel FHNW, Urner Institut Kulturen der Alpen an der Universität Luzern, Hochschule für Technik FHNW, Hochschule Luzern - Design und Kunst, bildfluss-Verlag.
Editor: Michel Roth
Graphic Design: Julia Glanzmann
Contributions: Hanspeter Schmid, Megi Zumstein, Christof Hirtler, iCompetence FHNW students.
Participating institutions: Hochschule für Musik Basel FHNW, Urner Institut Kulturen der Alpen an der Universität Luzern, Hochschule für Technik FHNW, Hochschule Luzern - Design und Kunst, bildfluss-Verlag.
Research Interests:
A lecture performance (for speaker, pinball machine and doublebass player) on expanded musical play by transferring gameplay skills into musical practice and, vice versa, to radically challenge gaming communities with musical... more
A lecture performance (for speaker, pinball machine and doublebass player) on expanded musical play by transferring gameplay skills into musical practice and, vice versa, to radically challenge gaming communities with musical play-along.
Part of the Festival SPIEL! Games as Critical Practice (Hochschule für Musik Basel FHNW) performed at Theater Basel on Friday January 27, 2023.
Michel Roth, Lecture and Concept
Aleksander Gabryś, Pinball and Doublebass
featuring the pinball machine MEDUSA
Part of the Festival SPIEL! Games as Critical Practice (Hochschule für Musik Basel FHNW) performed at Theater Basel on Friday January 27, 2023.
Michel Roth, Lecture and Concept
Aleksander Gabryś, Pinball and Doublebass
featuring the pinball machine MEDUSA
Research Interests: Music, Game Theory, Transdisciplinarity, Artistic Research of Music, John Cage, and 15 moreGamification, Mauricio Kagel, Indeterminacy, Social Intervention, Musicking, Iannis Xenakis, Henry Pousseur, Artistic Interventions in Organizations, Pinball Machines, Pinball, Ludomusicology, Lecture Performance, David Tudor, Musical perfromance, and Ludwig Wittgenstein
On the occasion of the exhibition "Singende Seile. Klingende Stadt" at the Vera Oeri-Bibliothek in Basel (March 2024), I gave this introduction to the soundtrack of Fredi M. Murer's film "Höhenfeuer" (1985) as an introduction to a... more
On the occasion of the exhibition "Singende Seile. Klingende Stadt" at the Vera Oeri-Bibliothek in Basel (March 2024), I gave this introduction to the soundtrack of Fredi M. Murer's film "Höhenfeuer" (1985) as an introduction to a rendition of the film at the Stadtkino Basel.