Jozef van Wissem

Jozef van Wissem (born Maastricht, 1962) is a Dutch minimalist composer and lute player.

Works

Much of the work of Jozef van Wissem is based on the application of mirror images to lute composition. The work is idiomatic to lute tablature of around AD 1600. Through study in New York City with Patrick O'Brien, he discovered that from the Middle Ages on, one of the variations on the "cantus firmus" (the given melody) is the backwards performance of the melody. As a result, on his first group of compositions, released as a CD "Retrograde. A Classical Deconstruction" (Persephone 002), Van Wissem wrote out mirror images of hundreds of classical lute tablature pieces, copying them out from the bottom right to the top left corner. To these inversions he added new themes, accents and rhythms. He then applied the "cut up" technique of writer William Burroughs and cut, shifted, mixed and pasted the parts together to create new works. One critic has compared this work to that of German painter Georg Baselitz, who paints upside down.

The second installment in the application of mirror images was the CD "Narcissus Drowning" (Persephone 003). This work is based on musical palindromes, structures which sound the same when played forward or backwards. To this CD of self-composed pieces van Wissem added percussion and lute electronics. On his third CD "Diplopia" (BVHaast 0103), which also appropriated some original classical lute compositions, Gary Lucas played a steel guitar while van Wissem played a renaissance lute with occasional electronics. The fourth solo lute recording "Simulacrum" (Bvhaast 0104) consists of wolf notes and palindrome lute compositions.

The lute electronics were achieved by inserting a microphone into the body of the lute, and the sound recorded while performing the palindromes. The CD "Proletarian Drift" (BVhaast 0404) is a live recording of van Wissem on a lute and Tetuzi Akiyama on a prepared guitar. The concert was completely improvised in a Tokyo gallery. On "The Universe of Absence" (BVhaast 0105), the second release by Lucas and van Wissem, the duo performed more electronic works and added vocals.

Van Wissem has toured Europe, the U.S. and Canada as well as Japan, doing solo lute and electronics concerts as well as duo concerts with Gary Lucas and Tetuzi Akiyama. Van Wissem's CD "Objects in mirror are closer than they appear" consists of lute palindromes and airport field recordings, which are doubled in mirror image and electronics. (BVHaast 0905).

On his latest CD, "A Rose By Any Other Name, Anonymous Lute Solos Of The Golden Age" (Incunabulum 001) he performs classical lute pieces by anonymous composers.

Van Wissem has also worked with Kramer (Shimmy Disc), visual artist Kathe Burkhart, Elliot Sharp, Chris Forsyth, M.B./ Maurizio Bianchi and James Blackshaw.

Discography

*2000: "Jozef van Wissem - Retrograde, A Classical Deconstruction" (Persephone 002)
*2001: "Jozef van Wissem - Narcissus Drowning" (Persephone 003)
*2002: "Gary Lucas and Jozef van Wissem - Diplopia" (BVHaast 0103)
*2003: "Jozef van Wissem - Simulacrum" (BVHaast 0104);
*2004* "Tetuzi Akiyama and Jozef van Wissem- Proletarian Drift" (BVHaast 0404)
*2004: "Gary Lucas and Jozef Van Wissem - The Universe of Absence" (BVHaast 0105); "The Wire Tapper 12", Wire Magazine CD compilation; "Reduce stress in just over an hour"- WFMU Radio CD compilation
*2005: "Lost in the Afternoon" - WFMU radio CD compilation; "Jozef van Wissem - Objects in Mirror are closer than they appear" (BVHaast 0905)
*2006: 'Jozef van Wissem - A Rose By Any Other Name, Anonymous Lute Solos Of The Golden Age' (Incunabulum 001)
*2007: Jozef van Wissem and Tetuzi Akiyama - Hymn for a Fallen Angel (Incunabulum 003)
*2007: Jozef van Wissem - Stations of the Cross (Incunabulum 004)
*2008: Brethren of the Free Spirit - 12-string/baroque lute duo with James Blackshaw CD/LP (audioMER 2008)
*2008: Jozef van Wissem - A Priori( Incunabulum 009/Audiomer CD/LP)
*2008 The Garden of Forking Paths - (Important Records)

CDs available through www.myspace.com/incunabulae MP3 downloads available from http://digital.othermusic.com/

External links

* [http://www.jozefvanwissem.com Wissem's website] www.myspace.com/vanwissem
* [http://www.bvhaast.nl]