Info
Berlin-based composer and sound artist Hanno Leichtmann created his album Outerlands on Villa Aurora’s historic organ. With its built-in percussion—including marimba, tubular bells, and other mechanical sound elements—the instrument is ideally suited to his distinctly rhythmic approach to sound.
Leichtmann composed on the same organ once played by Marta Feuchtwanger and Hanns Eisler. His fellowship at Villa Aurora inspired twelve intricately crafted “vignettes” that move between luminous transparency, rhythmic precision, and a minimalism infused with the atmosphere of Southern California.
Drawing on his background as a drummer, Leichtmann weaves the organ’s rich sonic resources into music that feels at once physical and weightless, poised between subtle echoes of minimal music and experimental electronics.
Text: Kathrin Jentjens
About the Artist
With a keen sense for charting new territories, Hanno Leichtmann‘s work spawns a multitude of languages that go from delicate ambient excursions to techno explorations or abstract sceneries on numerous sound installations, releases on such esteemed labels like Entr’acte, Karl Records, Arbitrary or The Tapeworm and collaborations with artists like Annie Garlid, Valerio Tricoli, Magda Mayas, Sara Persico, Andrew Pekler or Jan Jelinek.
Hanno Leichtmann has been living in Germany since 1981 and moved to Berlin in 1994. He studied percussion at the Conservatoire de la Musique Luxemburg and the University of Arts in Berlin. In 1995, he founded the trio „Ich Schwitze Nie“ with Nicholas Bussmann and Lars Rudolph as well as the live techno duo Paloma with Hannes Strobl. Paloma toured Germany in 1997 with Einstürzende Neubauten. Leichtmann wrote the dance piece „Allee der Kosmonauten“ for Sascha Waltz & Guests, and the soundtrack for „African Twin Towers“ by Christoph Schlingensief. His solo project Static was created in 1999. Since 2008, he has performed all over the world with Denseland (featuring Hannes Strobl and David Moss) and Groupshow (with Jan Jelinek and Andrew Pekler). In 2008, Leichtmann also curated and organized „My Favourite Thing“ , a festival for percussion and electronic music, at Radialsystem V Berlin. Hanno Leichtmann contributed to the compilation „Echtzeitmusik Berlin“. One of his recent releases is „Minimal Studies“ from 2013.
→ To Hanno Leichtmann's Website
Video at Villa Aurora
Partner
Villa Aurora & Thomas Mann House ist gefördert von
