KLANGSPUREN - NACHTHORN

The organ, says Belgian composer Maxime Denuc, is the oldest and best synthesiser in the world: the various stops embody different sounds and timbres, and the organ creates a synthesis from these sounds. At the same time, the action, i.e. the mechanism between key, air and pipe, was already a technical masterpiece in ancient times, and not just in instrument making. Denuc adds another level to the organ in his album Nachthorn (2022): he does not play the instrument with his own hands and feet, but by means of a device that he places on the keys of the manual - and operates them with a midi controller. "My work with midi aims to write pieces that couldn't be played by humans," he says in an interview - including various aspects such as the unerring regularity and precision that only a machine can provide. In terms of sound, the boundaries between analogue and digitally generated sounds seem to blur, and in terms of pure harmony, Denuc's sound paintings are more reminiscent of rave than church - repetitive, hypnotic, soft. "In my work with Midi, I have tried to get as far away as possible from how organ music is usually played.