528Hz / 582Hz 8va

528Hz by Ying WANG

Version for orchestra (2021) “528hz”, 15 min.
Score 528Hz
version for orchestra and mini-moog (2021/2022) “528Hz 8va”, 18 min. 
Score 528Hz 8va

A fast but pleasantly active heartbeat, an unconscious smile that never fades, a constantly changing sound that nevertheless leads exactly to a place where even more energy is released; the tempo always brisk, but enough pauses to take a breath; never a screaming contrast that abruptly interrupts the pulse. Like ketamine without side effects; like a well-mixed hormone cocktail.

528 HZ by Ying WANG places itself in the service of an optimistic view of facts and the world. The piece does not aim for orchestral drama, and it avoids abrupt contrasts. Instead, it is a music of joy. That a piece that draws from the abundant pool of positive musical connotations and emotions does not have to drift into New Age chords or empty brass jubilation becomes clear in its first moments. Euphoric, chaotic moments can be found in the piece as well as warmly embracing lullaby melodies. Soloistic moments emerge from the orchestra, forming small moving groups within the flow of sound, taking us gently and passionate by the hand, leading us through music. This music continues to glide into a soaring virtuosic cadenza in which material from all the preceding moments of bliss, polyphonically linked, culminate in an orgasmic climax. The fountain of youth which music is, is dug anew here.

This piece is now also rejuvenated: in a new version with electronics from the SWR Experimental Studio – 582 Hz 8va – the frequency doubled; the energy increased. Ying Wang sets out in search of other, digital moments of happiness that lie behind those analog ones that were heard in the original version. There is nothing “zeitgeisty” in this, rather the digital everyday life, not only that in Zoomlandia. Individual moments of happiness in the piece are electronically paused, stalled, so that they can be enjoyed longer, like a digital freezeglitch at your favorite spot – coitus extensus. Some moments are now also turned around to see if the joy inscribed in them may offers also other sounds. The dynamics are more intense, everything becomes “more”, that also needs a new acoustic space – 8 channels are expanding our experience.

Ying Wang, Andreas Karl May 2021, Berlin