25:25 Festival – wien modern [LIVE]
The concert, curated by Bernhard Günther (Wien Modern) will take place within the frame of
ISLANDS OF RESILIENCE 25 : 25 (OCTOBER 4-15, 2023) at rhiz

06 10 2023 20:00
Hell Machine | Conzert
rhiz
U-Bahnbogen 37, Wien

Hell Machine

Composition from Elisabeth Schimana for the Max Brand Synthesizer Operators: Manon Liu Winter, Gregor Ladenhauf

A journey into the depths of a unique machine, the legacy of the composer Max Brand. The forefather of the Moog Synthesizer, it is a monstrous instrument that took decades to develop. Operated by a first-class pianist, it snorts and wheezes through the ether of subharmonic frequencies.
A journey to hell with no return.

During the exhibition Magical Sound Machines (2008/9), Elisabeth Schimana and Gregor Ladenhauf examined this machine for its sonic possibilities and modes of operation and brought it back to life. Over the years, IMA Institute for Media Archaeology, with the help of Peter Donhauser, the Max Brand Archive in Langenzersdorf and the Vienna City Library, was able to research both: the history of the machine’s creation and Max Brand’s live and work. The results were published in the book Maschines for the Opera. The Composer Max Brand. An at the beginning almost impossible undertaking to get this machine out of the rooms in Langenzersdorf and to play it live ended with a tour of the Hell Machine from Vienna to Moscow in two flightcases!

Elisabeth Schimana Hell Machine
elise.at

IMAfocus Max Brand
archiv.ima.or.at