Ania Losinger – Xala III (elektroacoustic resonant floor xylophone, played by dancing), effects
Mats Eser – fender rhodes, percussion, effects
Field Recording: Porto Sa Ruxi (39°07’47.7″N 9°27’12.3″E)
WATER PIECE Water Piece is about a place.
It is also about a state of being.
Arriving and letting go — within the eternal cycle.
It is a place of childhood and of dying.
A bay in southern Sardinia, encircled by sand dunes, Mediterranean plants, and round, granite boulders washed smooth by the sea.
Longing and fulfilment.
It is winter, it is lonely.
Time to remember. To sink into the North. To Sleep.
Salt in the wind. Endless soughing.
An eternally continuous ebb and flow of water.
The Instruments
Ania Losinger’s Xala III is a unique instrument and the third model of her series of XALA inventions. In contrast to earlier acoustic versions, it is electro-acoustic. Each sounding board of wood and metal is fitted with a contact microphone and every note that is played is run through a mixer where effects are added. In WATER PIECE Ania uses field recordings for the first time. Recordings of water are cut into individual sounds that are then woven into the music in the same way as the other effects. Mats Eser uses a 1973 Original Suitcase Fender Rhodes and rounds out the electronically modified sounds with acoustic percussion instruments
Ania Losinger and Mats Eser
“…Losinger and Eser transform rhythm into sound and succeed in a fascinating way in the moment of reduction, of relief. The lightness and poetry with which the polyrhythmically-repetitive structures unfold allow the motoric element to recede into the background. Constantly in motion, symmetrical yet amorphous, this deeply personal and refreshingly unpretentious music carries and touches you from within…”
Ania Losinger, dancer and musician, dances and plays on the world’s first floor xylophone – the Xala. She developed this unique instrument in 1998/99 together with instrument maker Hamper von Niederhäusern. The Xala is a sound object made of wood and metal tones. It is played through dance – with flamenco shoes and human-sized sticks. Today, there are three Xalas that differ in size and timbre. This invention allows for a complete fusion of music and dance.
Mats Eser works as a musician, composer, and producer across a wide stylistic range. He has a special interest in the richness of percussive sounds and the art of staging them musically. As a multi-instrumentalist, he creates ever-new and surprising sound mixtures with marimba, vibraphone, Fender Rhodes, drums, self-developed glass instruments, select cymbals, and Asian gongs. The resulting music has long since transcended all stylistic boundaries and touches the listener directly.
The
Video-Impressions of earlier Productions with Xala III and Fender Rhodes
How Ania Losinger develops her own artistic synthesis
…“She never liked to dance on a rough surface. Though the gypsies in Andalusia unreservedly celebrate Flamenco dancing on bone-dry earth or uneven village squares – she was seeking to secure something else from it. For this reason, she was always irritated when she arrived at a venue and discovered that the stage was built of rough, uneven boards. “How can I create nuanced sounds on these?” For instance, the light scrape of the tip of a shoe when, proud as Carmen, she weaves a spell around herself? The gradual crescendo of heels driving each other towards the ultimate danced statement? Or the hollow impact of the balls of the feet, like a signal sent to the center of the Earth?
She decided to build herself her own stage, created layers of metal, pieces of carpet and other materials, installed pickups, experimented.
The dancer speaks of a «stroke of fate», that brought her together with instrument builder, Hamper von Niederhäusern. In those days she was dreaming of «an acoustic sounding floor». Thus, in a process of close collaboration, the Xala, a floor-xylophone weighing 400kg and measuring 4,5 square meters was developed, which can be played with the feet and danced upon. It opened up new dimensions and a new artistic era for Ania Losinger.
The headstrong artist basically sees herself as a researcher. This is obvious, since with each step she takes on her Xala she is traveling on uncharted territory. In all the world no such other such instrument exists and no other has mastered the complexity of playing upon it. Herein lies Ania’s great achievement: On this sounding-floor, this stage that has been uniquely tailored to her, her entire art is developed and constantly invents itself anew.
Many perceive this woman, who once was part of the national rhythmic gymnastics squad, as an Amazon. Something unyielding emanates from her, pliant and lithe though her body may be. Is she an athlete or an artist? A musical dancer or a dancing musician? «My dream has always been to unite music and dance in equal measure in a single person».
Losinger’s aesthetic is clear and direct, her movements are disciplined, her gaze betrays the highest concentration. Is she in a trance as she dances and plays? «I wouldn’t call it a trance», she answers, «rather, a state of utmost presence, such that I could never otherwise attain and experience. I hear and am aware of everything that is happening in the room, each single sound, the overtones, the vibrations and resonance. Everything. And all at the same time.»
Wherever Ania Losigner performs – solo in a Jazz cellar, with the Berner Symphonieorchester in the Casino theatre in Bern, as Cinderella at the children’s theatre, with Mats Eser touring through Europe or in Shanghai – she is always completely self-aware and radiates a magical effect that no-one can ignore…”
Berner Almanach
Contact
ania [at] anialosinger.com
info [at] matseser.com
