Teichmann Hurt

Performing as: Live (zither and electronics)
Labels / City: Festplatten / Berlin and Hamburg, Germany
Related projects: Gebrüder Teichmann, Beige GT, DJ Machaut, The Happy End

Contact and Information

Teichmann Hurt are:

Leopold Hurt, Andi and Hannes Teichmann

Information about the project:

The Cooperation between the composer/zither player Leopold Hurt and the electronic musicians/DJs Andi and Hannes Teichmann dates back to a common performance at the festival "Zither 4" in Munich in 2001. What started as a spontaneous, spur of the moment collaboration between musicians from apparently very different musical spheres soon became a long-term project.

One of the first highlights of this rather unusual combination was the joint venture of performing a live soundtrack to the newly restored silent film "Der Heilige Berg" ("The Holy Mountain" from1926), a german alpine drama starring Luis Trenker and Leni Riefenstahl. They subsequently performed the live set at "Insight festival" in Hasselt and during the festival "Zither 5" in Munich. They have performed their live accompaniment to screening of "Der Heilige Berg" at various worldwide events, such as "Serious Pop Festival" at the cultural centre "WUK" in Vienna and the cultural conference "Deutschlandpromenade" in China in October 2007 as part of the "Lange Nacht Der Klassik Filme" ("long night of classic cinema").

The musical starting point of the Teichmann Hurt project is the string instrument, the zither, whose live sounds are sent on an acoustic journey. With the help of a loop station single phrases are recorded and played back; creating a repetitive pattern that builds a musical framework for the sampler and the laptop. Extensive sequences will be drawn out in the process via delay loops, as well as bandhall and other effects that together construct musical landscapes in which the zither player is allowed to move around freely. This mosaic of sound is accompanied by an electronic foundation provided by a drum machine and a Moog synthesizer, which in itself gains a particularly individual sound thanks to the zither.

Due to the nature of these live performances, with instrumental interaction on the one hand and effects on the other, the final musical form of each individual performance is only ever realized in the moment. Each and every concert is a new experience for musicians and audience alike. Clearly defined song structures interchange with improvisation of ambient character that fluidly evolve against an organic time signature. This unique effect is amplified by the use of historical sound material (samples) taken from the classical repertoire as well as from Alpine Folk Music.

There are 3 possibilities to experience Teichmann Hurt:

1 - Teichmann Hurt, live audio with Leopold Hurt, Andi and Hannes Teichmann.
2 - Teichmann Hurt Geist, live audio and video: with video artist Phillipp Geist. Check out some samples on videogeist.de
3 - Teichmann Hurt perform live their soundtrack to the movie "Der Heilige Berg" ("The Holy Mountain" from 1926)

Still from Leni Riefenstahl's film "Der Heilige Berg"

News

Dates

Biography

Andi and Hannes Teichmann biography:

Read the brother's biography on their artist page

Leopold Hurt biography:

Leopold Hurt was born 1979 in Regensburg, Germany. He studied music at the Richard-Strauss-Conservatory of Music in Munich (zither, composition with Peter Kiesewetter, viola da gamba and historical performance). As a musician Hurt has performed with the orchestras of the Bavarian and West-German Broadcasting Corporation but also with orchestras playing period instruments.

He specializes in contemporary music as well as ancient music and has performed many debuts of new works, specifically composed for him. As a composer Leopold Hurt has been commissioned by several orchestras, ensembles and soloists, for example the Regensburg Philharmonic Orchestra.

He has composed an oratory, a chamber opera, orchestral and vocal works, chamber music and solo pieces. Leopold Hurt has won international prizes and scholarships for performance and composition, participated in several masterclasses and has done several recordings for CD and broadcasting.

In 2003/2004 he carried out a scholarship at the Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris and attended courses in electronic music at the IRCAM. Beside that he is always searching for new possibilities of using classical instruments in combination with electronics and DJ'ing. Leopold Hurt lives in Hamburg, where he is taking further studies in composition with Manfred Stahnke at the academy (Hochschule) for Music and Theatre.

Philipp Geist biography:

Philipp Geist (VIDEOGEIST) was born on February 28, 1976, in Witten, Germany. He grew up in Weilheim (Upper Bavaria). Since 1999, he has been living and working in Weilheim and Berlin.

Philipp Geist is a rising star in the young art scene. Together with the symphony orchestra OBC Barcelona and the Finnish sound ensemble Pan Sonic, Geist appeared as a video artist in front of 5,000 visitors at the opening of the Sonar Festival in Barcelona last year. He was represented at the Dissonanze Festival in Rome, at Clubtransmediale in Berlin and at the Mutek Festival in Montreal which is renowned for new media. He has exhibited his live video performances at important international art institutions including the Central House of Artists (CHA) in Moscow, the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) in London, the National Gallery in Warsaw (Zacheta) and at the opening of the Pinakothek der Moderne in Munich.

It was through photography and painting that Geist gradually made his way to video art. He had his first solo exhibition of large-format paintings at the age of 18. For the presentation of his artworks he selected an unusual location: a forest in Polling, Upper Bavaria. A number of exhibitions of his pictures and photography followed thereafter in the Stadtmuseum Schonau (slideshow with Console/Martin Gretschmann), in gallery Type-E in Munich, and others.

Geist worked together with zither soloist/composer Leopold Hurt and electronic musicians Hannes and Andi Teichmann (Bros. Teichmann) for the project Teichmann Hurt. Moreover, his collaborative work with Dirk Dresselhaus (SchneiderTM) and Ilpo Vasäinen (Pan Sonic) resulted in the “noise” music project Angel. Geist also produced a two-hour art film for the live ensemble SchneiderTM and Kpt.Michi.gan which was shown on the “Zoomer” world tour in 2003/04.

In the year 2000 Geist created a video composition for the musical piece “Jolanda” by the Weilheimer Avantgarde jazz ensemble Tied & Tickled Trio (with Markus and Micha Acher (“The Notwist”) as well as with jazz saxophonist Johannes Enders and others). Since then his works have been sought after at international video and digital art festivals such as the Biennale in Santiago de Chile, “Kurzfilmtagen” in Regensburg, the media tower in Graz, “Filmwinter” in Stuttgart and the Electronic Art Festival in Warsaw. Geist’s subsequent projects included the production of music video clips for Phonem, Tied & Tickled Trio, Console, Philip Boa, Angel, beigeGT, Ephy and Kpt.michi.gan.

Geist uses video material filmed exclusively by himself for his live performances and room installations. He utilizes software and hardware to mix the film, abstracting the images or making them more clearly identifiable. He releases everyday objects, landscapes and other details from their usual settings and places them in abstract contexts. By doing this, Geist creates completely new image themes.

For his installation at the Lake Side Restaurant in Zurich, Geist will show alternating video works which will be projected directly onto the building façade every evening at sunset for a period of 35 days.

Other projects Geist is currently working on are marked primarily by their complex integration of image, sound and light. One example of this is his collaborative project with Mexican artist Helen Escobedo for the Alte Museum in Berlin.