a web magazine for contemporary composition based in the Netherlands

authors
tags
search
colophon

languages
archive
pdf-archive
rss-feed

Deutsch
English
Nederlands

editorial Welcome to The Ear Reader

notes

columns by composers

worlds

current states of affairs

thoughts

essays on contemporary composition

apr '12

Birds

Cathy van Eck

A taxonomy of the use of birds in composition
continue reading →

Sharing Multiplicity – for Toine Horvers

Samuel Vriezen

Sound is at heart full of difference. There is no such thing as a static sound. Even the simplest timbre, a single sine wave without overtones, comes about through differences: the push and pull of air molecules as the soundwave …
continue reading →

Nichts geht mehr

Walter Zimmermann

Die Improvisation und der Komponist. Eine In-ein-ander-Setzung. “Aber in gewisser weise trauere ich über etwas, das damit zu tun hat, daß, sagen wir, Schubert mich verlassen hat,” Morton Feldman Als Komponist, wie viele andere um seine materielle Existenz …
continue reading →

Stay Still

Marc Sabat

With his well known story about two sounds heard in an anechoic chamber, John Cage reminds us that there is no actual silence where listening (namely the phenomenology of sensing or hearing vibration) is taking place. Two remarkable observations follow …
continue reading →

tags: Marc Sabat

TOP 10: Sonic Arts Events of the Last Two Years

Kasia Glowicka

As the world of Sonic Arts evolves to define itself, sound artists the world over are pushing the boundaries of creativity. This challenges us in simply categorizing their works as Sonic Art, as the broad scope includes Albums, gallery installations, …
continue reading →

apr '11

Manifest voor een nieuw kunstbegrip

Peter Adriaansz

Maarten Altena

Rozalie Hirs

Samuel Vriezen

Amsterdam, 14 april 2011 Wij, Nederlandse scheppende kunstenaars, nemen afstand van de kaping van het kunstbegrip door de beleidsmakers en kunstmanagers die beweren namens ons te spreken, zoals de “Tafel van Zes”. Met ongetwijfeld de beste bedoelingen spreekt deze managerselite …
continue reading →

nov '10

Queer Foreign Objects

Yannis Kyriakides

Isabelle Vigier

Click here to enter.

Composition: Yannis Kyriakides
Images: Isabelle Vigier
Text: Thomas Platter, Travels in England (1599), English translation by Clare Williams, Cape (London: 1937)
Commissioned by Sound and Music, March 2009
First publication The Ear reader, November 2010
continue reading →

tags: animation Sir Walter Cope

Snackbar

Mayke Nas

Click to enter.

A selection of refreshments for composers (and other people).

continue reading →

De Vrije Muziekpraktijk

Samuel Vriezen

1. De belofte van Muziek Art, and above all, music has a fundamental function, which is to catalyze the sublimation that it can bring about through all means of expression. It must aim through fixations which are landmarks to draw …
continue reading →

tags: muziekpraktijk Parmenides waarheid xenakis

Het probleem van verwijzingen

Louis Andriessen

Ik kan me niet herinneren dat ik ooit gecomponeerd heb zonder het besef van mijn muzikale repertoirekennis. Het enige wat ik me van de vroege jaren herinner, behalve dus al het imiteren, was de uitvinding van de 3/8-maat. Ik had …
continue reading →

tags: Hindemith muziekkritiek

oct '10

Composer/performers in the Netherlands: the nuts and bolts

Anne La Berge

Composer/performers divide their time between conjuring up concepts, structures and scores and showing up on stage to play. They thrive on a precarious balance between creating…
continue reading →