Umgehört: Southern Soundtrack

Text: Ivana Rajič, 31 July 2024

Translation: Robert Smales

The Elbphilharmonie magazine format »Umgehört« (Asked around) gets very personal: Seven artists – be they composers or musicians, pop or classical music – are asked one question and reveal their (inner) lives. In this edition, the question is: »What does the south sound like to you?« 

It is about the coexistence and juxtaposition of different perspectives on broad topics, which are essentially only composed of individual subjective experiences.

Her first name may be Irish, but Siobhan Stagg was actually born in the Australian state of Victoria. And even in her adopted home of Berlin, her soundscape remains the same it has always been: »I grew up in the southern hemisphere, where the soundtrack to nature is Australian birdsong,« the charismatic soprano declares. »Laughing kookaburras, chirping magpies, cheerful seagulls working their way through fish and chips wrappings, all while the ocean waves crash onto the sandy beach. Barbecues sizzling, air conditioning humming, children giggling, tennis balls bouncing at the Australian Open. These are the sounds of summer down under.« And concert life down under is no less varied and vibrant: »Musically speaking, Australia has adopted sounds from around the world,« says Stagg. »Before all concerts, we pay tribute to the indigenous people of the country we call home. The warm, earthy sounds of the didgeridoo and clapsticks can be heard as a respected member of the First Nations community delivers a welcome to and acknowledgment of country.«

People dance all over the city and music is everywhere: Alex Nante, one of the most important Latin American composers of his generation, grew up in Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires. »The city my grandparents opted to move to when they left Europe behind and followed their nostalgic urges,« he reveals. From the pulsating rhythmic chacarera to the baguala songs with their characteristic falsetto, the 32-year-old enjoys »the sound of the beautiful folklore of my country.« Of course, this also includes the tango. »My father-in-law plays it on the guitar. His instrument is a staple at all our family gatherings.« And whenever Nante is keen to escape the soundscape of the city with its population of 16 million, he drives out into the countryside and indulges in »the sounds of the pampas, the breeze caressing the trees, the tones of the wildlife all around – and especially the song of the ›Tero‹, a large plover bird that is found in this region.«

Be it the weather or the music: »For me, the south is always about warmth,« says the singer, songwriter and producer Ramadu, who grew up in Zimbabwe and lives in Vienna. While the temperatures are pleasant all year round (at least compared to Hamburg), the sounds of southern Africa are incredibly diverse. »It depends on the particular province and the different tribes,« Ramadu explains. Among the Shona in eastern Zimbabwe, the metallic sounds of the mbira can often be heard. In the southwest, on the other hand, rhythmic choral singing sounds out among the Ndebele. »Contemporary music in Zimbabwe is inspired by all these traditions: Artists like Mokoomba from Victoria Falls are influenced by the Tonga in the border triangle between Zimbabwe, Zambia and Botswana, but in the south we are more influenced by South Africa, by Zulu music.« Ramadu has taken the latter and created a fusion with Mozart in his MoZuluArt project, giving it »a little groove«.

»In the city of Chennai, also known as Madras, where I live, the streets are always full of people,« says Aruna Sairam, one of the most influential voices in Indian classical music. One of these streets leads to a temple that is over a thousand years old and offers up an entirely different soundscape: »You can hear temple bells, the chanting of the priests, the nadaswaram, an unusual oboe-like instrument that is played in the inner courtyard.« There – as in classical concert halls – you can hear the Carnatic music of South India, which has grown out of ancient Hindu traditions and is sung by Aruna herself. »This world of sound is all about virtuosic ornamentation and improvisation,« says the 71-year-old. »It takes years of practice to learn the grammar and idiom of the music. At the same time, it is also an expression of strong emotions and spiritual inclinations. I think it’s unique that such virtuosic and academic music can also be a route to the deepest devotion.«

Among the musicians that make up the Elbphilharmonie Gamelan Ensemble, the answer to this question of the sound of the south is unanimous: the gamelan, of course. An instrument made up of Indonesian gongs, drums and metallophones that originated centuries ago on the islands of Bali and Java and which, for Ronald Monem, expresses »brightness, warmth and a touch of fascination«. »The sound is sometimes delicate, ethereal, hypnotic – only to then transform the next moment into a wave of unbridled energy,« Mario Dütsch-Willmann adds. Xin Wei Thow studies gamelan music in Surakarta, Central Java, and also associates it with the »hustle and bustle that can be heard in the city streets during the day«. Ensemble leader Steven Tanoto, who grew up in North Sumatra, has similar associations. He cannot help but think of the »sound of honking horns and indigenous Batak women calling out at the market, the calls to prayer from the various mosques, interwoven contrapuntally, and the third harmonies of the choir in the Batak church.«

The contemporary music of Australia is made up of diverse soundscapes because it is »a complex melting pot of global musical cultures,« says the pianist and composer Zubin Kanga. »In the last century, lots composers maintained a close relationship with the contemporary classical traditions of Europe and North America. More recently, more and more composers from immigrant backgrounds have entered onto the scene who draw on the culture of their ancestors – from Indonesian gamelan to the traditional music of the Peruvian Andes. Right now there are lots of collaborations with Australian First Nations composers and performers who draw on their own millennia-old musical cultures.« And then there are those composers who are looking to the future and incorporating the latest technologies into their works – like Kanga himself, who wires up his classical concert grand piano with a host of tech gadgets to elicit never-before-heard sounds from the instrument.

»For us, the sounds of the south encompass celebration and jubilation, as well as melancholy and nostalgia, like a rich palette of colours and rhythms – reflecting a harmonious blend of traditions and cultures,« is how the string quartet known as Latin Strings puts it. The name of the ensemble says it all. Founded in Lübeck in 2015, the four young musicians from Chile and Venezuela devote most of their attention to the music of their homeland – ranging from traditional dances and musical styles such as joropo, merengue and cueca to works of classical music. »Classical or academic music hailing from Latin America contains compositional elements taken from European classical music, but is also influenced by all the typical sounds of Latin America,« the quartet explain. The four musicians like to include works by Heitor Villa-Lobos, Alberto Ginastera, Orlando Cardozo, Astor Piazzolla and Arturo Márque in their programmes, in a bid to make their »rich musical tradition better known in Germany and Europe.«

This article appeared in the Elbphilharmonie magazine (Issue 3/24).