Sailing the strings of light
Johanna Borchert is a composer and pianist from Berlin involved in many and very interesting bands and projects like Little Red Suitcase and Schneeweiss und Rosenrot which was awarded with The New German Jazzaward 2012. Now she presents her first solo album titled Orchestre idéal (2012) in which she explores the field of improvisation, her personal liquid body dance as one of the pieces of the album. All the pieces were freely improvised while they were being recorded except for Lillies, Königlicher Schlafgang, Til Petter Og Antong and Hymne An Das Leben, which are improvisations on original compositions by Johanna Borchert. She is the only musician in that beautiful dance called Orchestre idéal, an invitation to travel to light from the night darkness, discovering the force of that contradiction through the language of her piano and her harpsichord and all the wonders she lets go in every performance, opening the window of uncertainty with all her feelings and dreams, her clarities and abstractions, playing with the contradictions of existence creating a personal and dreamy soundscape. Welcome to the ideal orchestra of Johanna Borchert, a place where everything is real, even the sound of your dreams.
What’s the sense of improvisation for you?
Improvising means surrendering, letting go, observe, listen, always stay cautious not to miss the next hint of the moment.
Your first solo album is called Orchestre idéal but you are the only musician on it. Where does this orchestra come from?
I found a small music box in an old antique shop in Porto this spring. It had small machines inside tiny tin figures playing funny music. On the lid it said Orchestre Idéal. It reminded me of my piano, the different wooden or metallic sounds, I can get out of preparing it. The piano to me is an orchestra.
The Ouverture sounds melodic and mysterious, like an invitation to an unknown trip. How it was your personal trip in creating the album?
I got an invitation from the Berlin Radio Station to record the album one year before it finally happened. So I had plenty of time to get all upset about what to do with it. In my preparations I jumped from one concept to the other, first I thought I just wanted to play improvised, than I thought I wanted to compose tunes for it, than I thought it should all become new arrangements of old peaces I had written before for different bands. In the end after composing and arranging and practising, I threw all those ideas away again and allowed myself to go to the studio not knowing what would happen. I did that since I am a child, sitting down at the instrument and letting it happen. That is deeply satisfactory for me and I am happy I took the risk and did it that way.
There’s a night atmosphere in the whole album. What do you get from darkness?
I don’t have a special relation to darkness, I love light, I love the sun, I love warmth, if I wouldn’t be a musician I would move down to the south. But well, my music can sometimes draw the listener into a dreamy state of mind, maybe it`s dark. I don’t know why. When I improvise I close my eyes and go inside. The universe is dark too for our eyes, but in reality there are all kinds of colours and sounds out there.
Do you feel sometimes the piano is not enough to express yourself?
Sometimes I would like to scream on top of it, but only to release the happiness I am feeling while playing. This happens mostly when I play with my Band.
You go from melody to abstraction and it seems you look for an answer for the unknown. What do you look for in these opposite concepts?
Light can’t be seen as light if there wasn`t darkness.
The piece you present in the festival is Liquid body dance. What’s the meaning of this image for you?
It is the imaginary dance. When you dream, you can do anything you want, move in any way you want. Be anything you can imagine.
The ending piece is Hymne and as leben. Music is enough to express existence?
Anything is enough.
What are you personal lilies?
Memories.
Where would you go if you had a naked ship?
I would paint it red and sail in circles.
An interview by Juan Carlos Romero
Johanna Borchert website www.johannaborchert.de
Image courtesy of Johanna Borchert
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