Composer's Workshop: electro//acoustic day

Dániel Péter Biró – Hagirot (Immigrations), 2025

Hagirot (Immigrations), composed by Dániel Péter Biró, is inspired by Daniel 12:1, which describes a time of great turmoil followed by the rescue of those “inscribed in the book of life.” The composition uses gematria (Hebrew numerical symbolism), with the numerical values of the words shaping the musical structure. Microtonal beating from the accordion’s tuning is transformed through computer processing into spatial pulsations, while tuning, dynamics, and resonance evolve as part of a broader process of transformation reflecting the text’s meaning. The Hebrew word Hagirotalso contains the root “to dwell,” reflected in the accordion’s sound “dwelling” within changing electroacoustic resonance environments.

The work was created at the SWR Experimentalstudio (2024–2026). 

It will be presented by the composer Dániel Péter Biró together with accordionist Margit Kern.

 Brian Ferneyhough – Firecycle BetaA Hyperrealistic Recording

The central – and also the most ambitious – part of this project is a realisation of Firecycle Beta by Brian Ferneyhough.

Firecycle Beta, written in 1971, is a monumental torso for two pianos and two orchestras conducted by five conductors. This early work marks the beginning of Ferneyhough’s New Complexity aesthetic and is one of the most radical and extensive examples of this style.

The score is famous for its extreme complexity and density of detail. In fact, it systematically pushes performers beyond what is realistically playable. For musicians, it is practically impossible to realise the piece exactly as it is written.

This raises an interesting question: what would the piece sound like if it could actually be performed with complete precision?

With contemporary computer technology and detailed orchestral sound libraries, it is now possible to create a very precise digital realisation of this virtually unplayable work. Each of the 75 individual parts can be rendered separately and projected through the 32 loudspeakers of the BLO system. In this sense, the result can be understood as a kind of hyperrealistic recording of the score.

Another important aspect of the project is the spatial presentation of the work. The loudspeakers are distributed among the audience, allowing each instrumental line to exist clearly in space.

Unlike the compact, blended sound of a traditional orchestral performance on stage, this approach creates a much greater sense of clarity, depth, and spatial detail. It allows us to hear the structure of the music in a way that has probably never been possible before.

Creating this realisation involves an enormous amount of work. Hundreds of thousands of details from the score have to be encoded and rendered, and this requires a very deep understanding of the instrumental techniques used in contemporary music.

Thomas Hummel is probably the only person capable of carrying out such a project. Through the development of conTimbre and his decades of experience working with artificial orchestras in his own compositions, he has the expertise needed to realise this piece in such detail.