AquaAngelusVox

DVD/CD publication, MDG 924 1254-5

<sabine schäfer // joachim krebs>

AquaAngelusVox - A TopoSonic Mandala

with Hildegard von Bingen

DVD/CD publication

stereo (CD) and 6-channel version (DVD) Dolby Digital AC-3, 5.1 as well as the uncompressed format DVD-Audio (2+2+2) published by MDG, Musikproduktion Dabringhaus und Grimm Detmold available from March 2004

first published:

MIDEM Cannes (F) January 2004

The Space-soundComposition "AquaAngelusVox" is dedicated to the great medieval abbottess an mystic Hildegard of Bingen. The subjects nature – animal – man are represented by the manifold noises and sounds produced by water as life's principle, the audio-"microscoped" birds' voices and the responsory "De Angelis" by Hildegard of Bingen respectively. You will find more details on the work on the subordinate page "work description".

The DVD/CD edition

The DVD contains two versions of the work. On the one hand, there is the artists' six-channel original master, on the other hand a recording of the work realized in December 2003 in St. Osdag church, Mandelsloh, Germany, by Werner Dabringhaus/MDG using the 2+2+2 recording system.

Each of the versions displays its own specific qualities. Thus, the original master version makes it possible to distinctly perceive the pure, clear-cut structure of the spatial movements as well as the spatial setting of the individual sound layers. The authenticity of the recording by Dabringhaus is based on the fact that it gives a clear image of St. Osdag's spatial acoustic conditions. Thus, the spatial recording documents the realization of a space-sound installation for a specific place. Here, the amalgamation of artificially created spaces and the spatial sound movements as well as the recording space's specific sound characteristics are immediately understandable. Thus, the listener is offered two greatly varying listening experiences.

The Space-soundComposition is edited as a bundle containing both DVD and CD. The six-channel version may be played either in the current 5.1 format or else as an "authentic" six-channel production with the 2+2+2 loudspeaker configuration (www.2plus2plus2.ch). The bundle includes a specially mixed stereo version on CD which can be played on any standard CD or DVD player; in the same way, the DVD is compatible with every DVD video or DVD audio player.

Some basic remarks on the DVD publication by MDG

The "real" movement of sounds in space has always been an essential feature of our artistic work. The new medium DVD now enables music produced as multichannel recordings to be played not only on special multichannel tape players but also on surround players, a gadget increasingly common with the modern listener. This fact opens up new perspectives as to a work's reception, as it not only reaches the expert audience and the interested art connoisseur physically present at concerts and exhibitions; rather, the medium DVD video/audio now makes it possible to listen to the multichannel space-sound art works independently from public performing spaces. This expansion of the reception to private spaces greatly complies with our audiophilic art, as the listener is given the chance to concentrate even more deeply on listening (i.e. experiencing the world by listening).

The special quality of the MDG publication is based on the fact that this company specializes on the edition of audiophilic high end art. Even on an international level, MDG holds an outstanding and extraordinary innovative position as a producer of audio DVDs. In combination with its special six-channel recording technique, MDG has created a loudspeaker configuration which focuses on the three-dimensional listening to sound events (www.2plus2plus2.ch). This approach complies perfectly with our esthetics as space-sound artists. At the same time, the system is conceived flexibly so that it may, without any technical changes, be listened to over the widely common 5.1 loudspeaker configuration.