# It is stored in memory to preserve it for life – In matters of art – poetry, drama, music and painting: Photos, Videos

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2020/08/28/it-is-stored-in-memory-to-preserve-it-for-life-in-matters-of-art-poetry-drama-music-and-painting-photos-videos/
- Published: 2020-08-28T00:05:30+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**In matters of art – poetry, drama, music and painting – the “timelessness” of 
the art in question is effected by the fact that the experience of it is such that
it is committed to memory, there to be preserved for one’s lifetime, during which
extent it is also passed down for others to experience to such an extent that this
process becomes a cycle of events and forms a continuum. **

The music of Bach, Beethoven and Brahms, Mozart, Chopin, Liszt, Wagner, Berg, Webern,

Stravinsky and so on;  the poetry of Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot; the drama of Sophocles,
Aeschylus and Euripides, of Shakespeare; the painting of Cézanne has come to acquire
the status of timelessness, as has the music of Duke Ellington, Charles Mingus, 
Charlie Parker and Thelonious Monk. Meanwhile it also took supreme effort on the
part of musicians of considerable repute – Roswell Rudd, Steve Lacy, Misha Mengelberg,
Buell Neidlinger and Frank Kimbrough to resuscitate the pianism of Herbie Nichols
to that rarefied realm to which it belongs.

![Steffen Schorn directing the Norwegian Wind Ensemble](https://i0.wp.com/latinjazznet.
com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Steffen-Schorn-directing-the-Norwegian-Wind-Ensemble.
jpg?resize=640%2C360&ssl=1)

Steffen Schorn, seen playing tubax at right, directing the Norwegian Wind Ensemble

Meanwhile, to keep the repertoire of such giants of music in Brasil as **Heitor 
Villa-Lobos**, **Pixinguinha**, **Tom Jobim**, **Moacir Santos**, **Milton Nascimento**,**
Vinicius de Moraes** and **Egberto Gismonti** required similarly enormous effort
and investment in study and performance. However, doing likewise for the music of**
Hermeto Pascoal** has always posed unique and significant challenges. His music 
is so complex; so demanding of those who attempt to interpret and recreate his repertoire
that it requires not only instrumental virtuosity, but also the application of such
cross-disciplines as comedy, mimicry and pantomime, and – most demanding of all –
the ability to inhabit such multiple visual and sonic universes as those all at 
once; or at least in an ensemble so well-rehearsed as to make every musical utterance
sound seamless; or jagged, as the moment of its performance demands. If that sounds
complex, it’s because it really is.

[⌊Hermeto's Universe⌉⌊Hermeto's Universe⌉[

But the **Norwegian Wind Ensemble**, fortuitously guided by **Steffen Schorn** makes
it all sound quite easy. And delightful. **_Hermeto’s Universe_** literally re-creates
the musical cosmos of O Bruxo by traversing the same seemingly endless cultural 
topography that Mr Pascoal lives in and brings it to life in his singular symphonic
musical metaphor. In fact, to Mr Pascoal, music is the sound of life as he hears
it, which he then transposes into a sonic idiom that matches the interior landscape[
and soundscape] that he sees [and hears] inside his mind’s ear. The sonic architecture
of what emerges manifests itself in a monumental orchestral procession which leads
the listener through ever-changing musical scenery accompanied by unique and ever-
changing pulsations and rhythms. These, in turn, must be viewed and listened to 
from ever-evolving perspectives. It is like inhabiting an audio-geographical continuum
of time; being exposed to that “time” in multiple dimensions of colour and tone-
texture as well.

The music on these two magnificent discs is characterised by the works’ sombre lyricism–
often powerfully muted, but rising at times to vast clusters of shattering climaxes.
Mr Pascoal’s ability to imagine – and render – his music in vertical planes that
he often stacks five and six-high is quite breathtaking and it is the genius of 
Steffen Schorn – and the members of the Norwegian Wind Ensemble – to bring all of
this multitudinous harmonic palimpsest to life in a manner that constantly reminds
us of Mr Pascoal’s unique lyrical gifts – with multiple melodic, harmonic and rhythmical
dimensions. On paper, this sounds impenetrable and unattainable, but in performance
it is quite magical and eminently enjoyable especially when you let yourself be 
swept away by Mr Pascoal’s childlike joy that is at the heart of this music. Hitherto,
perhaps the only musical associate of Mr Pascoal to have interpreted and championed
his music with any degree of success has been **Jovino Santos Neto**, and this too
because of his extremely close relationship with the Brasilian master. But it appears
that on evidence from the music of these two discs that Steffen Schorn seems to 
have benefitted greatly from sharing nearly twenty years of his musical life with
Mr Pascoal.

His coming together with saxophonist **Roger Hanschel** creates the opportunity 
to translate Mr Pascoal’s uncommon use of counterpoint into some of the most magical
musical moments on these discs. Crucially, Mr Schorn’s mastery of the seemingly 
bottomless depth of the Eb and Bb-tubax instruments adds extreme gravitas and ink-
black crepuscular colours to this magnificent music. Moreover, soloists and featured
instrumentalists – indeed all members of the Norwegian Wind Ensemble – perform as
if having deeply interiorised Mr Pascoal’s sonic conceptions and deliver powerful
idiomatic performances in return. In the end **_Hermeto’s Universe_** is an excellent
musical document, important because of the sheer commitment of all involved, which
transports anyone who chooses to listen to the fathomless riches of the music of
Hermeto Pascoal; and takes an enormous leap forward effectively setting the proverbial
stage for the timelessness of Mr Pascoal’s music .

**_Track list – Disc One – _**1: Ilza Nova; 2: Mentalizando a Cruz; 3: Celso; 4:
Quebrando Tudo; 5: Rainha da Pedra Azul; 6: Rebuliço; 7: Música das Nuvens e do 
Chão; 8: Mente Clara. Disc Two – 1: Ilha das Gaivotas; 2: E Nem da pra Dizer; 3:
Uína; 4: A Guaribada da Noite; 5: Tudo Quebreu; 6: O Farol Que nos Guia; 7: Malacunguê;
8: Risada de Felicidade

_**Personnel – **_**Hermeto Pascoal:** prepared piano [Disc One 4, Disc Two 8], 
piano chair [Disc Two 8]water glass [Disc One 2, Disc Two 1], melodica [Disc Two
7], bass flute [Disc One 7] and voice [Disc Two 5, 8]; **Marcio Bahia:** drums [
Disc One 1, 3, 5, Disc Two 7] and percussion [Disc One 3, 4, Disc Two 5, 7]; **Roger
Hanschel:** sopranino saxophone, soprano saxophone [Disc Two 3], F-mezzosoprano 
saxophone [Disc One 6, 8, Disc Two 1] and alto saxophone [Disc One 1, 3, 7, Disc
Two 7]; **Steffen Schorn:** C-melody saxophone, baritone saxophone [Disc One 1, 
7 Disc Two 3], bass saxophone [Disc One 8], Eb-tubax, Bb-tubax [Disc One 4, 7, Disc
Two 5, 7], alto flute, bass flute [Disc One 1, 6 – 8], bass clarinet, contraalto
clarinet and harmophon; **_The Norwegian Wind Ensemble conducted by Steffen Schorn–_****
Inger Johanne Berg:** flute; **Leyla Peker Nielsen:** flute and piccolo; **Ingunn
Lien Gundersen:** oboe; **Milan Adamovich:** cor anglais; **Crister Bergby:** bassoon
and contraforte [soli Disc One 4, Disc Two 5]; **Leann Currie:** bassoon; **Eirik
Jordal:** clarinet; **Carlos Gay Fernandez: **clarinet; **Per Harald Molvig:** clarinet;**
Tor-Egill Hansen:** bass clarinet; **Roar Alnes Aarum:** bass clarinet; **Geir Holm:**
saxophone; **Kristin Haagensen:** saxophone; **Britt Kristin Larsen:** French horn;**
Steinar Granmo Nilsen:** French horn; **Matthias Schriefl:** trumpet and piccolo
trumpet; **Stian Aareskjold:** trumpet; **Torgeir Haara:** trumpet; **Tarjei Grimsby:**
trombone [soli Disc One 3, 7]; **Øyvind Brekke:** trombone [solo Disc One 7]; **
Torild Grytting Berg:** trombone; **Lars Andreas Haug:** tuba [soli Disc One 4, 
7 Disc Two 5]; **André Fjørtoft:** marimba [solo Disc One 8], vibraphone and percussion[
castanets Disc One 5]; **Bjorn Rabben:** marimba, vibraphone and percussion [woodblocks
Disc Two 5]; **Roger Morland:** contrabass; **Ensemble:** collective improvisation[
Disc Two 8]

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