“WINDSCHIEF” – an out-of-the-ordinary German word for which the dictionary offers no satisfactory translation. “Crooked”, “tilted” or “askew” are not really adequate interpretations of the graphic German expression which reflects the outcome of conflicting tendencies, the resistance of planned structures against the elemental destructive force of the wind. A building which is askew – “windschief” – tells the story of its transformation during the course of a dynamic process, describes the dialectics between structure and chaos, order and freedom, organisation and entropy, or whatever we may call it.
Music as an attempt at a temporal structuring of sounds is not exempted from this process. In improvised music in particular, this mutual interaction becomes a central theme. Even in “free playing”, music-making without any kind of pre-conceived musical notions or signposts, spontaneous patterns emerge, change or adapt, gain ground or expire according to the ensuing reactions of the players. The role of the listener is no less important than that of the players: in the perception of the individual, musical phenomena come into the foreground of which the players were unaware during the genesis of the music. “Windschief” does not only tell stories, it also triggers our imagination. This is equally true of the exciting musical dialogue by the duo of Peter A. Schmid and Roger Girod and the drawings by the artist Georges Wenger, which sprung from spontaneous responses to the music on this recording. “Windschief” takes the active listener on a journey full of discovery and surprises to the sources, the communication and the perception of artistic processes.
Roger Girod piano
Peter A. Schmid bass clarinet, soprano saxophone, flutes
Creative Woks Records CW 1027
