sounds of women music + installation



sounds of women
is tessa_i_richter's third cd after hearing colours und heartpulses _ "a few years ago when playing in a classical piano trio, i felt a strong urge to get to know music by female composers_ that was how i discovered their wonderful music_ I was really interested in making these women composers known to a larger audience, but not so much in studying and learning them in a traditonal way_ thus the idea was born to "recompose" some pieces by women composer _ I rewrote the pieces creating several voices and recording them, first literally and one by one, then changing the voices one by one, improvising until these pieces were born_ now, when we hear these pieces, and knowing the original, they will seem familiar, because in their harmonical and melodic structure they use the same basic material _at the same time we have a totally new listenening experience: the sounds are electronic, and my music is in a modern sense feminine, non-hierarchical and non-linear _ " this music was created in 2004-2005_

a new kind of music
each "instrument", i.e. voice, has ist own pulse _ this pulse is horizontally logical in itself, but vertically not absolutely synchronistic on every beat with all the other voices _ the pulses do, however, always find their way back to the overall pulse _ phrases are not always in 8 or 16 measures, the way we know it from classical, pop and rock music musik_ this creates a natural feeling of aliveness, as unpredictable as nature and life itself _ flow and pulse evereywhere_

installation "frauenschriftbilder" (women writing images)
when in 2006 i was asked by the sgbk (swiss society of women artists) to paricipate in their exhibition "frauenschriftbilder", i wondered how i could transpose my music visually _ the idea of the flags was inspired by tibetan prayer flags, whose underlying idea of transporting the prayers written on them on the wind into the whole world, seemed perfect for this project _ tibetan prayer flags are often seen with a stupa, a sacred place, and that made me think of a kind of "altar" with a goddess_ and because in our christian religion and mythology trinity is male, and because here we do not have a living tradition of a female goddess, i chose sarasvati, whom i had met frequently in my life - on travels, in museums and in pictures_


- music and art by women
                                      aspects of the goddess
                                                      carried by the wind into the world-


installation

                                                            

 

music

           

 

sarasvati
       goddess of art, music, wisdom and science

sarasvati

sarasvati is mentioned both in vedic and puranic literature _ hindu scholars also recognize her importance at the meaning of her name: "saras" is water, and "sarasvati" is understood to mean "radiating river" or " the one that flows" _ the rigveda, the oldest hindu scripture first describes sarasvati as river or river goddess_ in other writings she is described as "highest amongst the gods" or "highest of mothers"_ she most probably started her career as a vedic river goddess _ the river sarasvati dried up around 1900 b_c_ beforethat it is assumed to have been one of the large rivers between sindhu and ganges, on whose banks were situated the centres of the developing arian culture_ here, the early vedic gods were created, priests were trained and wisdom gathered, and it was here that the arian language developed _ thus sarasvati had become the keeper of the emerging culture _ as a result sarasvati became the goddess of learning, wisdom, of communication and of the arts_ in the puranas (much later,) sarasvati becomes the wife of brahma, whose role in the trimurti, the hindu trinity, is creation (brahma is represented as being male - not to be confused with the impersonal, formless brahman)_ as his wife she is now the mother of the entire universe, although she appears to be subordianted to him _ in practice, however, it is she who is adored, while the veneration of brahma has died out _ during the navaratri-festival that lasts ten days, the last day is dedicated to her_ people lay books before her image to receive grace and her blessing _

 

a tribute to 7 women composers
                         and their godly aspects

hildegard von bingen  hildegard von bingen (1098 - 1179)_ mystical inspiration

healer, musician, mystic and writer_ she spent most ofher life in monastery and researching methods of healing with herbs, writing and chants _

maria theresia von paradis  maria theresia von paradis (1759 - 1824)_ inner light

blind "wunderkind"_ her blindness allowed her as a woman to perform in public, without going against the ideal of seemliness for women that prevailed at the time _

maria agatha szymanowska  maria agatha szymanowska (1789 - 1831)_ sensuous love

first female professional musician ever in poland_ and this at the time of a bloody independence war _ admired by goethe in his poem "aussöhnung" as "doppelglück der töne wie der liebe" (double happiness of sounds and love)_

fanny cäcilia hensel-mendelsohn  fanny cäcilia hensel-mendelsohn (1805 - 1847)_ fire of enthusiasm

with her inner fire she melted away tight boundaries and resinstance explode (melt)_ she could get very upset about anything ugly or bad_ charles gounod describes her as "eine frau von hervorragendem geiste und von einer energie, die man in ihren tiefen, feurig blickenden augen lesen konnte"_ (a woman with an excellent mind and with an energy that could be detected in her deep, firy eyes)

clara wieck-schumann  clara wiek-schumann (1819 - 1896)_ joint power of man and woman

"wunderkind" und renowned pianist_ a virtuoso pianist, she was inspired by her marriage with robert, the fertile ground for her own music _ later she also loved brahms, the other major composer of her time _

luise adolpha le beau  luise adolpha le beau (1850 - 1927)_ natural beauty

student of clara schumann's and somewhat of a solitary person_ remained unmarried and with a strong bond to her parents_ "allein ist's am schönsten"(being alone is best) said this woman, whose soul was very receptive for anything beautiful and sublime_

teresa carreno  teresa carreno (1853 - 1917)_ meditation

"wunderkind" from venezuela_ played the piano for lincoln and queen victoria_ with a turbulent love life _ was married 4 times and travelled a lot _

 

tessa ingrid richter  tessa ingrid richter

composition, performance and installation
fotos and artwork

 

installation

not for sale _
can be booked for events and exhibitions

sculpture
35 x 13 x 15 cm
sprayed clay
casr upon request

flags

9 flags each 33 x 33 cm; total length ca 4.60 m
identical copies upon request

cd

available at www.innerpulse.ch

design neon