1953年出生于德国的音乐家Stephan Micus能够用世界各地千差万别的民族乐器勾勒出了以上一幕幕素淡的音乐美景。Stephan Micus属于这个世界上一种特殊的人。这种人外表看似沉滞、木纳,然而在其平静的内心深处往往蕴涵了一种可以摧毁任何心灵防线的能量。
16岁那年,德国极负声誉的作曲家兼乐器多面手Stephan Micus第一次去了东方。并从此一发不可收拾,周游了全世界。他在印度和日本花了大量的时间学习古代音乐技巧并很早就开始收罗名目繁多的异国乐器,西方对这些乐器一无所知。ECM标签公司给他灌录的基本上是独奏的呕心之作,作曲家混音时大尺度额外添加的音轨为全辑造成了一种幻觉。Micus并不打算按老套路演奏这些乐器,而是想要用几种新的方式去整合来自全世界的音乐表达模式。虽然有时你一定会觉得他弄出来的声音是使用电子键盘的结果,但Micus绝对是一位打破异国乐器常规表演技巧的纯粹的声学演奏家。
几十年的音乐历练使得Stephan Micus越来越清淡,越来越无争。说不定什么时候他就会完全放下手中乐器,飘然离去。在恒河的某个无名村落,在非洲雨林的某个少数部落用树枝,用沙砾,用垂手可得的任何物件制造出一段段属于自己也只有自己聆听的音乐。
by Linda Kohanov
The respected German composer and multi-instrumentalist Stephan Micus made his first journey to the Orient at the age of 16. He has since traveled around the world. He spent extensive periods of time studying ancient musical techniques in India and Japan and collected a number of ethnic instruments previously unknown in the West. His recordings for the ECM label are essentially solo efforts in which the illusion of an ensemble is created by the composer's extensive overdubs. Micus' intention is not to play these instruments according to tradition, but to combine modes of expression from around the world in exciting new ways. Though he sometimes creates sounds you'd swear were the result of electronic keyboards, Micus is an acoustic purist who often develops unconventional performance techniques on ethnic instruments. He released Garden of Mirrors in mid-2000, with Desert Poems and Koan both following a year later. Micus continued to stay busy, releasing Towards the Wind in 2002, Life in 2004, and On the Wing in 2006, all of which kept his multicultural and multi-instrumental style intact.