Bernhard Günter, born 1957 in Irlich, Germany, begins his musical life playing the drums at age 12, then changes to electric guitar at 17. He moves to Paris in 1980, where he takes up auto-didactic studies of contemporary composition techniques in the libraries of IRCAM and the Centre Pompidou, and attends Pierre Boulez's lectures at IRCAM and Collège de France.
Returning to Germany in 1986, he starts working on computer-based music in 1987; after four years of preparation and one year of work he releases his influential first CD Un Peu de Neige Salie (1993), followed by Détails Agrandis (1994). In 1995, he founds his own label, trente oiseaux. During the following decade, Günter releases numerous CDs and performs his music around the globe. Un Peu de Neige Salie is listed as one of the Top "100 Albums that set the World on Fire" by The Wire, one of his works receives an Honorable Mention at the 1999 PRIX ARS ELECTRONICA.
After a decade of composing electroacoustic music, Günter re-discovers his interest in playing instruments and improvised music in 2004.
In 2005, Günter adds various bamboo flutes, the shakuhachi and the xiao among others, to his sound palette, and begins exploring a middle course between composition and improvisation that uses multi-tracking, editing, and arranging improvised parts that are exchanged between artists through the mail. The first result of this approach (which Günter tentatively calls 'compovisation') is the release of Ataraxia (2005) in collaboration with Heribert Friedl.
In November 2006, Friedl and Günter have just completed their second album, trans, making use of a field recording of three power transformers as its basis. Günter has begun to play the clarinet in mid-2006, and is currently working on two collaboration projects with guitarist Gary Smith and percussionist Michael Vorfeld that may eventually result in a trio project. He intends to begin a new project with Graham Halliwell and to continue exploring a possible synthesis of composition and improvisation, incorporating field recordings, digital sound sources, and instrumental improvisation.
To ensure his artistic independence regardless of economic considerations, Günter works part time as an English teacher in adult education, and as a translator. In his free time, he enjoys reading, photography, and mountain biking.
His recordings can be obtained from trente oiseaux's online shop.
Returning to Germany in 1986, he starts working on computer-based music in 1987; after four years of preparation and one year of work he releases his influential first CD Un Peu de Neige Salie (1993), followed by Détails Agrandis (1994). In 1995, he founds his own label, trente oiseaux. During the following decade, Günter releases numerous CDs and performs his music around the globe. Un Peu de Neige Salie is listed as one of the Top "100 Albums that set the World on Fire" by The Wire, one of his works receives an Honorable Mention at the 1999 PRIX ARS ELECTRONICA.
After a decade of composing electroacoustic music, Günter re-discovers his interest in playing instruments and improvised music in 2004.
In 2005, Günter adds various bamboo flutes, the shakuhachi and the xiao among others, to his sound palette, and begins exploring a middle course between composition and improvisation that uses multi-tracking, editing, and arranging improvised parts that are exchanged between artists through the mail. The first result of this approach (which Günter tentatively calls 'compovisation') is the release of Ataraxia (2005) in collaboration with Heribert Friedl.
In November 2006, Friedl and Günter have just completed their second album, trans, making use of a field recording of three power transformers as its basis. Günter has begun to play the clarinet in mid-2006, and is currently working on two collaboration projects with guitarist Gary Smith and percussionist Michael Vorfeld that may eventually result in a trio project. He intends to begin a new project with Graham Halliwell and to continue exploring a possible synthesis of composition and improvisation, incorporating field recordings, digital sound sources, and instrumental improvisation.
To ensure his artistic independence regardless of economic considerations, Günter works part time as an English teacher in adult education, and as a translator. In his free time, he enjoys reading, photography, and mountain biking.
His recordings can be obtained from trente oiseaux's online shop.
A Listener's View: "Bernhard, I was lucky enough finally to discover your music. I had been curious about it for some time, but along with Francisco López's, I was under the impression that it was mostly inaudible. I had the good fortune to see López perform at Sonar this year, and realized how wrong I had been. The show was amazing, sublime, among the most powerful musical experiences of my life; and so upon my return home I bought not only several of his own CDs, but also two of yours: Brown, Blue... and Time, Dreaming Itself. The latter I have just begun listening to, and I'll reserve my comments until I've really immersed myself in it. But the record for Mark Rothko: I've been listening to that over and over, the kind of deep, concentrated listening I haven't enjoyed in years. And I will say only that it is one of the most beautiful albums I have ever heard - if not the most beautiful. Stunning. I just wanted to tell you that, and to thank you for making those records. I always knew I'd hear music like this, someday." Philip Sherburne
Editor: Urban Sounds www.urbansounds.com
Contributor: Surface, The Wire, XLR8R, Alternative Press
Contributor: Surface, The Wire, XLR8R, Alternative Press