Helmut Oehring
Music theatre / voice / staged performance
Music theatre, voice, double bass and artistic trust since 2008.
- Double bassist
- Vocalist
- Speaker
- Stage figure
One of the major artistic constellations in Aleksander Gabryś’s archive: music theatre, speaking body, double bass, memory and trust.
Music theatre, staged concert, solo double bass, voice, speech, acting, ensemble, orchestra, electronics and playback.
Archival constellation of works, roles, staged performances, recordings and works in preparation.
FinsterHERZ oder Orfeo17
FinsterHERZ oder Orfeo17
Context
Collaboration, roles, and traces since 2008
Connections
Connected works and traces
Since 2008, Aleksander Gabryś has worked closely with Helmut Oehring in music theatre, staged concert forms and solo works that expand the double bass into voice, acting, memory and physical presence. The collaboration began with Gunten for Ensemble Phoenix Basel, where Gabryś performed Kraus, after Robert Walser’s Jakob von Gunten: not only as a double bassist, but as a speaking and acting stage figure in costume.
Over the following years, Oehring’s works placed Gabryś in increasingly complex scenic and musical situations: as solo double bassist, vocalist, speaker, dramatic figure and bearer of autobiographical memory. From Angelus Novus III through AscheMOND and FinsterHERZ oder Orfeo17 to the later solo works UmBruch and Inferno MAPPA version, the relationship became one of the clearest examples of artistic trust in Gabryś’s archive.
Oehring later described Gabryś warmly as his "beliebtesten Pole". The phrase is held here not as a slogan, but as a sign of immediate artistic understanding: the kind of trust in which a performer can become voice, body, memory and dramatic identity inside the work.
Selected works / projects
Gunten, 2008. Music theatre by Helmut Oehring for Ensemble Phoenix Basel, after Robert Walser’s Jakob von Gunten. Aleksander Gabryś performed Kraus: double bass, spoken and acted role. The performance date known from the concert list is 16 October 2008; the role placed him in costume among actors, with physical and dramatic interaction on stage.
Helmut Oehring — Gunten (2008)
Aleksander Gabryś as Kraus — double bass / Sprecher / stage action
In Helmut Oehring’s Gunten, Aleksander Gabryś appears as Kraus — double bassist, Sprecher and stage character.
This short excerpt shows Kraus in a situation of psychological and physical subordination and humiliation. Kneeling, licking the mud from the young lady’s shoes beneath her dress, manipulated by his own pupil at the school for servants and gradually stripped of his jacket, he proves to be nothing but a tool in the invisible hands of Others. The double bass meanwhile remains at the back of the stage. Gunten marked the beginning of Gabryś’s long collaboration with Oehring.
Ensemble Phoenix. Stage direction: Marcus Bothe. Conductor: Jürg Henneberger. Concept and text adaptation: Stefanie Wördemann.
Gunten — Kraus: performance excerpt
00:48.53. World premiere of the production: GARE DU NORD Bahnhof für Neue Musik, Basel, 16 October 2008.
Foxfire 2, recorded 2009 / released on Bassolo. Oehring’s solo work was recorded by Aleksander Gabryś for the Bassolo album, where it appears as part of the recorded foundation of solo double-bass repertoire.
Angelus Novus III (déjà-vu/entendu), 2016. For solo double bass/vocalist, septet and orchestra. Premiere: 14 June 2016, Konzerthaus Freiburg. Aleksander Gabryś: solo double bass + vocals / speaker / singer / sign soloist. The work contains autobiographical and memory material connected with Gabryś.
AscheMOND oder The Fairy Queen, 2017. Large-scale work for soloists, choir, baroque ensemble, orchestra and live electronics. Aleksander Gabryś: solo double bass, performed in the Wuppertal production.
FinsterHERZ oder Orfeo17, 2017. Staged concert after Claudio Monteverdi’s L’Orfeo and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness. Premiere: 30 September 2017, ARENA Potsdam. Aleksander Gabryś: Kurtz - double bass + voice, in the Kammerakademie Potsdam context with Antonello Manacorda.
Helmut Oehring — FinsterHERZ oder Orfeo17
Aleksander Gabryś as Kurtz — double bass and voice
Aleksander Gabryś as Kurtz — double bass, voice and stage action in Helmut Oehring’s FinsterHERZ oder Orfeo17. This excerpt from the world premiere in Potsdam shows Kurtz among the orchestra and other soloists, including David Moss as Marlowe / Orfeo 1.
Kammerakademie Potsdam. Musical direction: Antonello Manacorda.
FinsterHERZ oder Orfeo17 — excerpt
World premiere, Waschhaus Arena, Potsdam, 30 September 2017. Audience recording, 3:04. Camera operator unknown.
UmBruch, 2024. For solo double bass and playback/tape. Performed once by Aleksander Gabryś in a 2024 solo recital; documentation, audio and video are pending.
Inferno MAPPA version, 2022/2024. For double bass/vocal. Planned and not yet premiered by Aleksander Gabryś; the entry remains in preparation.