PAUL GIGER DUO / ARS MORIENDI / CHE

PAUL GIGER DUO / FROM SILENCE TO SILENCE / CHE

Swiss violinist Paul Giger is one of those musicians and composers who is almost impossible to classify. His latest album, Ars Moriendi, is his seventh with the ECM label and is a typically high-concept project combining spirituality and aesthetics, likely to appeal to both jazz and classical audiences.

Born in Herisau, Switzerland, Paul Giger toured Asia as a street performer before studying music in Zurich, Winterthur and Bern, graduating with teaching and soloist diplomas. After three years as concert master, St. Gallen Symphony Orchestra has set out on a free path playing a repertoire that ranges from baroque to contemporary composition, improvisation, jazz, music of various folk traditions and most importantly: its own music. He has collaborated with American, European, African, Japanese, Indian and Arab musicians and performs worldwide. Giger has composed choral and orchestral works as well as chamber music, film scores and dance scores, and has released six albums on ECM. He was awarded the Appenzell-Ausserrhoden Canton Culture Prize for 2015.

FROM SILENCE TO SILENCE project

The festival concert “From silence to silence” is based on the album Ars moriendi, in which Paul Giger looks at the fluid patterns of life, death and renewal as he brings together Bach’s compositions and new music drawing inspiration from the work of the painter Giovanni Segantini and Swiss folk traditions. “Becoming – Being – Passing” – is the name of the tryptichon of Tyrolean-born Segantini, which served the violinist and composer Paul Giger as an important source of inspiration for the ars moriendi project. The theme of transience is a thread running through this program, combining Bach’s compositions with original compositions and music influenced by traditional Swiss folk in equal measure.

High concept albums are often very difficult to pull off, especially this one, so packed with such disparate elements of baroque, folk and modern recording techniques. It’s an exaggeration to say that there’s something for everyone on this record, but it’s music that appeals beyond the usual contemporary classical music audience. It’s a natural progression of Giger’s musical development, particularly his work with Marie-Louise Dähler and perhaps also his the best and most perfectly crafted album.

Paul Giger (violin, violino d’amore)

Marie-Louise Dahler (harpsichord, portable organ)

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