The Danish ensemble Contemporánea presents BILLOW, a fusion of contemporary classical music and experimental electronica. BILLOW is a 47-minute, nine-movement performance for clarinet (Bb, G, Bass), live electronics processed through MaxMSP, and immersive video created by Simon Janssen, Hamburg. It unfolds with poetic fragments from Goethe’s “Der Zauberlehrling” (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice). The themes of ambition, chaos, and loss of control lend a narrative dimension, while the music and visuals create an abstract, otherworldly experience. Yet, even without knowledge of Goethe or the work’s origins, the music invites you to experience and interpret the journey individually.

Drawing inspiration from 80s funk, techno, and Balkan and African rhythms, the project transcends musical boundaries. You ride on a growing wave from the enchantment of the spell and a dramatic moment of the broom being cleaved by the axe to a hedonistic denial of exploring crisis, exponential growth through three stages of increasing ecstasy and chaos before the billow finally breaks through. 

Does only the desolate emptiness remain?

BILLOW is made possible through generous support from the Danish Arts Foundation, Goethe-Institut Dänemark, William Demant Fonden, Konsul George Jorck og Hustru Emma Jorck’s Fond, BUPL, Københavns Kommunes Musikudvalg, and the Sonning-Fonden.

Listen here:
https://orcd.co/billow