Skills Sven Helbig

• Sven Helbig (b. 1968):
• 1 Induction 03:54
• 2 Dedication 04:38
• 3 Immersion 05:08
• 4 Repetition 04:55
• 5 Despair 04:37
• 6 Lore 04:37
• 7 Vision 05:13
• 8 Metamorphosis 04:45
• 9 Flow 04:34
• 10 Transfiguration 04:09
• Total Runtime 46:30

Info for Skills

In my parents' living room stands an elaborately hand-forged copper kettle - my grandfather's masterpiece, hammered out of a single piece of copper. Growing up in a family of craftsmen, I have been familiar since early childhood with the attitude of perfecting a thing for its own sake.

The deepening concentration and slow maturing of execution, the craft shares with spiritual rituals, with arts, sports and the sciences. I am touched by the sight of almost ideal expressions of human activity, be it a forged piece, a perfectly build sentence or an athletic performance. I dedicate my album Skills to this fascination.

A branched succession of changing skills has brought mankind to the present day. The skills that were originally life-supporting grew into handy crafts and art. This development through the times reflects the enormous changes in ethics, aesthetics and morals. People describe this process in many shades, from culturally pessimistic dystopias to posthumanist utopias.

The music of Skills lives in this field - between hymn and melancholy.

At times, the music can be melancholic, especially the restrained “Despair.” Many people stumble, fail, and/or quit along the way, while others continue to pursue glory, whether the humble pride of personal mastery or the public recognition of lauded skills. By “Metamorphosis,” a clear change has come over the orchestra: louder, sharper, more self-assured. Ten thousand hours of practice have paid off; the students have become masters. The music also offers an encouragement to the world: you’ve gotten it right in many ways; it’s not perfect yet, but keep striving. (Richard Allen, acloserlisten.com)

Sven Helbig

Sven Helbig
belongs to a generation of composers who have removed the border between classical and popular. He is recognized in the world of contemporary classical music as well as in the establishment and underground of popular music.

Creative partnerships emerged, such as those with the Fauré Quartett, opera singer René Pape, Kristjan Järvi or the Deutsche Grammophon label on one hand and the Pet Shop Boys, Rammstein or Snoop Dogg on the other.

Next to his choir and orchestra compositions for the classical concert stage, Sven Helbig tours with his electronic music. On mallets, controllers and keyboards he adds prepared sounds and samples to his compositions , using all means of electronic altering.

Last year, Sven Helbig received the title “Maestro honorario” from the National University of San Martin in Buenos Aires. Since then he has been working closely with the university on mutual art projects and has given presentations on subjects of intercultural exchange. Sven Helbig was born in Eisenhuettenstadt. He studied music in Dresden and New York. In 1996, he and Markus Rindt founded the Dresdner Sinfoniker, the first European orchestra exclusively dedicated to contemporary music.

In February 2013, Sven Helbig released his debut album Pocket Symphonies at Deutsche Grammophon.

This album contains no booklet.