The violinist sits focused on some unseen inner realm. Intuitively he lets forth a myriad of notes from the stretched gut strings on the electric baroque violin, evoking sounds not heard since before the industrial revolution.
As the notes bounce and find rest around the walls, our attention is drawn to the other-worldly sounds of old Europe, the middle ages and beyond, as this extraordinary artist and his equally extraordinary custom-made violin, take us on a contemplative journey in sounds and imagination.
The performance takes place on a custom Spur electric baroque violin, a world first of its kind, that he recently commissioned.
Spur violins, which originated in Castlemaine and are now based in Kyneton, are designed by violin maker Paul Davies and are becoming increasingly played by contemporary musicians around the world.
Davies is internationally known to many of the biggest names in music for his innovative design and craftsmanship, bringing together the perfection and beauty of the violin designs from the past, and further innovating with design, playability and amplification for the 21st century musician as a creative and innovative artist – the perfect match for the sounds in Guenther’s imagination, which he brings to life with the violin.
Violinist-composer Rupert Guenther is an original concert artist whose concerts explore site-specific themes through the lost artform of extended improvisations. His evocative music interprets and expresses the surrounding environments, architecture, world events, history, anthropology, astronomy, geology, philosophy, influences from various cultures and his own personal stories.
“The sounds of the violin have been heard in the temples, mosques, palaces, monasteries and cathedrals of many civilisations, way before music was ever written down or concert halls existed,” Guenther says.
He has performed recitals worldwide including Sydney Opera House, Bombora House NYC, The Guildhall Festival and Tate Britain in London.
Trained in Vienna, Guenther’s earlier career as sideman to the stars includes the Vienna Chamber Opera, the Australian Pops Orchestra, Beatles’ producer Sir George Martin, Olivia-Newton John, Demis Roussos, John Farnham and Hollywood singer-songwriter Lisbeth Scott prior to his solo career, independently releasing 40 albums and more than 4000 new original classical
works since 2003, including five albums commissioned and recorded by ABC Classic FM.
“I was really changed by what I experienced in my travels through other lands, whether in the serene quiet of a temple in Japan, or at a concert on a raft floating on a lake in the Himalayas under the light of a full moon, the yearning in the prayers from the local mosque in a village in Kashmir, Russian gypsies playing music on the streets in Prague, or the sound of a church organ in an 11th century Austrian church,” he says.
“These sounds are really timeless, they touch deeply into our collective memory, of a place of sacredness with the earth and the cosmos.
“Music is the mystical language of the highest humanitarian ideals. The music flowing through from these old times and cultures has a potency and organic feel to it, like a glimpse or message fragment from the ancient world. We become time travellers! And our imagination can just as easily easily slip between our world, the old world, and into the far-off constellations of the future.”
The Invisible Architecture of Compassion concert will be held at 5pm on Sunday, August 10 at the Anglican Church, Castlemaine.
Sunday workshops will run between 9am-4pm at the Castlemaine Senior Citizens Centre.
Tickets via Humanitix.
