Zafraan Ensemble: jouer, suonare, tocar

Making music on an instrument is described in different languages with different verbs:  In French, "jouer d'un instrument" focuses on the playfulness, it resonates with surprise, an alternative world is created, one temporarily agrees with other players on an alternative system of rules, one's own logic. It is something that exists only briefly, but continues to develop, continues to live. The Italian "suonare uno strumento" emphasises the sonic element: an object comes to life, it has its own character, we can only stimulate it. The instrument begins to vibrate and fills us with its sound. "Tocar un instrumento" is the Spanish expression. Touch is what it's all about here, touching, feeling, also closeness. Something is formed haptically, as if one were working with clay.  (In German, the word "Ton" can mean both musical tone and clay). This three-sided view of music-making is the basis of this special opening concert programme of the Transparent Sound New Music Festival Budapest 2024. All compositions creatively deal with the interplay of playful ingenuity, sound, and the physical processes.

As the closing piece of the evening, we invited the Berlin-based Hungarian composer, Ádám Bajnok, to write a new piece. The title of the piece refers to the short story "Roadside Picnic" by the Strugatsky brothers, which also serves as the basis for Tarkovsky's STALKER. The composer was inspired by the possibilities of musical representation of dystopia and the fascinating world depicted in the film, with its (mostly terrifyingly dangerous) anomalies such as ghost jelly, fiery fluff, and mosquito fuzz. In response to these, he composed complex, volatile, ever-changing, hybridized sound formations. The composition incorporates electronic sounds, providing an opportunity to enhance the traditional concert experience.  

Zafraan Ensemble stands for music that reflects all facets of life, society, and reality today. In combination with other art forms, Zafraan observes, explores, and processes that which surrounds us: people, events, nature and technology, the normalities, and absurdities of today.