christof kurzmann:
the air between

charhizma may 2003



01 the air between

christof kurzmann:

“the air between”

charhizma cha021


when the organisers of the donaufestival/krems invited me to contribute a piece of work on this year’s theme the deep tone, my first thought was to once again create music that follows parameters such as melody or rhythm, something that, except for a few contributions to various compilations, i had paid little attention to on my releases over the past years.

i had set about building songlike miniatures and sketches, pieces based on low-pitched sounds interspersed with short melodic signatures, when suddenly the flow of my life was interrupted by something that was to change everything: war!

from the moment the us army and their dubious allies started their acts of aggression against iraq, the first thing i did every morning was to read the news. “tuned in” as i was, i sat down in front of my computer and tried to keep working on my music. before long, i noticed that the ease and lightness so overwhelmingly present at first, this relaxed feeling i need in order to work in a pop form, had vanished. the sounds flowing from my computer were still deep and low-pitched, but their quality and their relation to the world around them had changed.
for a few days i thought things would come right again, that the aggressors might even see political reason, either by recognising the injustice on their own or somehow being inspired by the mounting wave of world-wide protest against this war, and that this would eventually lead to a production that would rise up out of the tragic events in a triumphant hymn of human will and intention. however, not only did iraq’s war-torn population end up surrendering, but i too had to give up my faith in justice.

thus, this album has become an account that documents the surrender of my musical and creative self to my social self, a document of mourning and sadness. rather than being the result of my wishes, the air between is a reflection of my mood of resignation. it’s a picture of the first days of war, when the air raids were still rare yet nonetheless vehement and disastrous. it’s a portrayal of the air between - between the attacks, between hope and despair, between waiting and surrender.

christof kurzmann, 2003
upcoming events:

mar.28, wien/Austria:
fmf: DEK TRIO: Vandermark - Harni...
mar.28, wien/Austria:
Donnerstag Nacht | Konzert: Alex ...
apr.01, wien/Austria:
monday improvisers session