Sjaella & Fallwander »Each of us like you« (50. Leipziger Jazztage)

A classical vocal ensemble from Leipzig meets a Munich-based chamber pop duo—a new concert program for six female voices and electronics at the intersection of avant-garde, pop, and neo-baroque.

“Each of us like you,” wrote the American author Hilda Doolittle in 1917 in her poem “Adonis,” thereby distilling a central message: Each of us carries a part of you within us.

A good 100 years later, this line now serves as the starting point for a musical exploration: for the first time, the chamber pop duo Fallwander, with its concert program of the same name, joins forces with the classical vocal ensemble Sjaella. While Sjaella has performed in recent years in productions such as the ballet “Giselle” at the Leipzig Opera and the chamber opera “Primero Sueño,” which premiered in New York, while Fallwander has presented its intimate, ethereal chamber-pop sound on numerous national and international concert stages in recent years. Most recently, they released their highly acclaimed dance-theater production “Loewenherz.”

At the heart of the jointly developed program are two compositions: first, the title piece composed by Fallwander, which explores the fragile coexistence amidst social dynamics. Michel van der Aa, on the other hand, turns his gaze inward in “From Dust” and explores how we define ourselves as individuals amid the tensions of these social processes.

Six female voices shape the soundscape, which is framed by electronic elements. Sonically, the collaboration transcends conventional categorizations of “high” and “popular” music: elements of the avant-garde and neo-baroque are just as evident as pop and ambient influences. In this way, “Each of us like you” continues the long-standing tradition of collaboration between Munich and Leipzig within the framework of the Jazz Days—and at the same time proves to be a dynamic dialogue that carries within it the hope for a new beginning, both inward and outward.

(Luca Glenzer)