The Buchla Suite: A Handcrafted Tribute to Morton Subotnick is the latest project and sound-exploration vehicle for Stefan Schultze’s Large Ensemble. The project was inspired by Morton Subotnick’s seminal composition Silver Apples of the Moon, which was released in 1967on Nonesuch Records. The piece was written for the Buchla-100 synthesizer, which Subotnick designed in collaboration with engineer Don Buchla. The introduction of this instrument, and Subotnick’s compositions which utilised it, defined what is now considered the West-Coast style of sound synthesis. His work has had a lasting impact on generations of electronic and electroacoustic musicians.
When I first heard Silver Apples of the Moon, it captivated me in such a way that I was inspired to write a new program related to the work. I find it fascinating that this piece is as relevant today as it was when it was created! – Stefan Schultze
The Buchla Suite is an investigation into how a full ensemble might implement the functionality of a synthesizer, i.e., what it would mean to apply the logic of an oscillator, a sequencer, a filter, or chaos generator to the compositional process. Although the suite uses Silver Apples of the Moon as a touchstone and starting point, it is not a one-to-one translation of Subotnick’s opus or the result of an act of transposing electronics into an acoustic idiom. What Schultze is much more interested in than a fixed aesthetic proposition is the creation of a language that can be utilised to unlock unprecedented outcomes.
The first results of this ongoing sound research were recorded on Deutschlandfunk from September 5-9, 2022. A series of live dates at various jazz and electronica festivals followed in October 2022, culminating in two double concerts with Morton Subotnick at the Sinuston Festival Magdeburg and the Leipziger Jazztage.
Nomination:
In April 2023 the band was nominated for the German Jazz Award.
Album Release:
This fall, the double album Stefan Schultze Large Ensemble – The Buchla Suite, recorded at the Deutschlandfunk studio, will be released by Jazzwerkstatt.
Handcrafted Tributes Festival:
Celebrating the collaboration with electronic music & modular synthesis, the Stefan Schultze Large Ensemble will host its own festival Handcrafted Tributes with Max Loderbauer, Rabih Beaini, Oxana Omelchuk, Florian Zwißler, Elena Kakaliagou, Richard Scott, Michael Vorfeld, Els Vandeweyer & Eliad Wagner from November 16-18, 2023 at Boerne Studio Berlin.
