Markus Eichenberger - Domino: Concept for Orchestra

Emanem 4084

The opening notes of Domino are enough to reel in the most skeptical listeners, given they understand that the musicians are immediately involved in a complicated process. What sounds like a tutti false start is actually the launch of a series of orchestral transients, all of which have central function in Eichenberger’s scheme. Like John Zorn’s “Game Pieces,” Domino is a concept that transforms the improvisation process into a collective match of talent, concentration and, in some places, strategy, only on a much larger – and more attractive, for that matter – scale.

The inspiration for Domino comes from the game itself, which is equal parts cerebral tactics and systematic architecture. The conductor wields five clarinets, each of which functions as a cue card in not only register and natural effect, but in the very act of switching from one to the other. Innumerable motifs and individual/group statements follow that curiously reserved opening passage; sounds that can be taken in on their own or as a wash of layered/staggered tones.

The extremely panned German-tongued vocals (Marianne Schuppe and Dorothea Schurch, respectively) are central to the atmosphere of the music, although their precise function is a complete mystery. Rather than singing, Schuppe and Schurch imbed themselves into the orchestra as their own instruments, performing as both followers and initiators of various lines of progression. Bear in mind that Eichenberger’s clarinets are the source of labor for the orchestra, but he is outnumbered in his dual role as conductor and musician. The music, subject to chaotic departure by the orchestra’s very dimensions and associated range, is surprisingly controlled, causing one to wonder if the music is improvised at all. Eichenberger, who feels that there is no such thing as purely free music, would likely glow at that claim.

Like Masashi Harada’s Condanction Ensemble, the music of Domino is probably better experienced than heard. That said, the music is a lively evolution of ideas and sound, driven by unseen forces that lend well enough to the imagination without bringing about frustration from an intangible “bigger picture.”

-Alan Jones