Georg Friedrich Haas

in vain

Haas is certainly escaping the envelope altogether. In Vain takes music to new territories. In vain is a narrative of oppositions, setting light against darkness, dissonance against pure intervals, modern tuning against natural resonances. It begins with rapid, swirling patterns, like snow in high wind. Toward the end of the opening section, Haas asks that the lights in the hall be gradually turned down, signalling a shift into a different realm: the instruments abandon equal-tempered tuning and follow the overtone series. -- Alex Ross: The Rest Is Noise (music critic, The New Yorker) During Georg Friedrich Haas's In Vain, the listener experiences a heightened state of awareness, becoming acutely attuned to the intricacies of a psychedelically beautiful soundscape that often unfolds in total darkness. -- Vivien Schweitzer, Unearthly Harmonies, Best Heard in the Dark (Critic's Notebook, The New York Times)