Lifestream Johannes Motschmann

• 1 Craving 03:04
• 2 Interoception 06:27
• 3 Unda Maris 06:13
• 4 Mosaic 02:09
• 5 Alpha Waves 03:21
• 6 Lifestream 05:57
• 7 Uncanny Valley 08:22
• 8 Silhouette 04:47
• 9 Nocturnal 04:00
• 10 Grave 02:27
• Total Runtime 46:47

Info for Lifestream

"How do things come to life?" This is a question that German composer, electronic producer, and classically trained piano virtuoso Johannes Motschmann has been contemplating for a while now. "I wanted to make music about the starting point, about how music appears. So this record is about bringing concepts and ideas to life."

It's a unique, compositional approach to electronic music that has led Motschmann to several ground-breaking albums and a raft of acclaimed performances all over the world, latterly alongside Boris Bolles and David Panzl as the Johannes Motschmann Trio. 2016's "Electric Fields" via Neue Meister, which matched classical flourishes with beautiful moments of electronica, typified his creative processes - "New sound spaces inspired by electronic music, but produced 100% by hand," is how he described it – something he repeated for "Lifestream".

"The concept of 'Lifestream' has many meanings," he says, "and if you spell it differently – with a v – that's pretty much what we do when we perform live. The idea of creating a lifestream also means to instantly create, right there on the stage; not working with loops, not working with samples. So most of it is really done with our handcraft, in the moment," explains Motschmann.

Conceived as a narrative arc, "Lifestream" itself reflects the natural cycle of all things – from birth to death, from 'Craving', a euphoric, glimmering track that contains the DNA of the whole album to 'Grave', a track about weightlessness and "a space that I would not want to describe in detail." It's also, explains Motschmann, something of an epitaph, the haunting piano and mournful strings providing a peaceful – and fitting – coda to the record and the life contained within.

Johannes Motschmann Trio:
Johannes Motschmann, piano, harmonium, synthesisers
Boris Bolles, synthesisers, violin
David Panzl, multi percussion

Johannes Motschmann
(born in 1978) studied composition with Jörg Herchet, piano with Gunther Anger, electronic music with Wilfried Jentzsch, and music theory with Clemens Kühn and Ludwig Holtmeier at the Carl Maria von Weber University of Music, Dresden. From 2002 to 2006 he studied with Wolfgang Rihm at the Hochschule für Musik Karlsruhe, where he received his diploma and completed his studies with a graduate recital.

Afterwards he studied with Hanspeter Kyburz at the Hochschule für Musik Hanns Eisler in Berlin, where he received his postgraduate degree, and this was followed by a period of intensive study of algorithmic composition. He was awarded a scholarship from the Höpfner Stiftung, and received a postgraduate scholarship from the State of Baden-Württemberg. In 2008 he won the Bremen Composer Prize. He participated in the Fifth International Composition Seminar of Ensemble Modern.

Johannes Motschmann has received commissions for compositions from renowned festivals, such as the Klangspuren Schwaz Festival of Contemporary Music; the Davos Festival; Heidelberger Frühling; the AlpenKLASSIK Festival; and the Biennale für Moderne Musik Frankfurt Rhein Main. His works have been performed at, among other festivals, the Schleswig-Holstein Musik Festival; the Festspiele Mecklenburg-Vorpommern; the Beethovenfest Bonn; and at the Yellow Lounge at Berghain in Berlin.

He has worked with renowned musicians such as Ensemble Modern, Scharoun Ensemble, Minguet Quartett, Jack Quartet, Quartuor Danel, SWR Sinfonieorchester, NDR Radiophilharmonie, Matthias Schorn, François-Frédéric Guy, Johannes Kalitzke, Sean Edwards, Peter Tilling, Alexander Shelley and the band „Spark“.

In april 2016 his album „Electric Fields“ (with multi-percussionist David Panzl and recording engineer Boris Bolles) will be released at berlin classics/Neue Meister. Johannes Motschmann lives in Berlin.

This album contains no booklet.