Vital Weekly #498

So I never heard of Hanna Hartman, but her CD for Komplott is quite a blow really. Hartman is a composer and has received various prizes for her work. That's about what is revealed about her. On this CD two long pieces. 'Longitude 013 degrees 26'E' is recorded on sailing boats, and the longitude runs through Berlin, Kap Arkona and the Baltic Sea. 'Cratere' uses sounds from the Italian volcano Etna. Both pieces were commissioned by radio stations and both are breathtaking examples of field recordings melting with musique concrete. In 'Longitude' the sounds of the boat are used, as-well as, if understood correctly, the music of Annette Krebs (on prepared piano) and Robert G. Patterson (on horn). They play along side the cracks of the ropes and other sounds a boat can have (which seeing my fear of sailing will always remain a mystery to me) - a very vibrant piece. On 'Cratere' no extra musicians, just the sounds of the volcano, in what is a longer but at the same time also emptier piece of music. Austerely orchestrated rumbles from below the earth surface, which are carefully treated into a massive pieces of miniature humming, solid as a rock, I'd say. Very impressive stuff here.