[Biography]
Bernhard Living is a composer - and former musician.
He was born in 1948 in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England - and lived for the first part of his life in Greenwich, London.
He studied composition with the South African-born composer Stanley Glasser (1966 - 1969) - and philosophy at Middlesex Polytechnic (1983 - 1986).
Composer Bernhard Living’s digitally-based compositions share a formal ‘black square’ minimalist aesthetic - and have taken minimalistic compositional techniques to what he considers to be their logical conclusion. His music is developed from simple abstract idea - and is characterised by sparse textures - glacial movement - long periods of silence - maximal repetition - minimal variation - and are reduced to their most basic and essential components.
The compositions are examples of ‘technological lessness’ - and explore what the architect and philosopher Buckminster Fuller called ‘post-industrial ephemeralisation’ - of doing more with less - of doing everything with nothing.
Influences on Living’s music include the composers Thomas Tallis - Anton Webern - Morton Feldman - Eric Dolphy - and the artists Josef Albers - Agnes Martin - and Donald Judd.
Publication - Releases
Digital album releases include:
‘Digital Voices’ - Sonospace Label (2019) Composition 2011.03 (Ich Tanze Nicht) Composition 2015.07 (Ольгина история (Olga’s Story)) Composition 2017.05 (Undecided Metaphor) - Iklectik Label (2020) https://iklectikartlab.com/composition-2017-05-undecided-metaphor/
Film Versionhttps://youtu.be/d0E1hikPHs4
Composition 2020.12 (Anne Truitt) - Iklectik Label (2021) https://iklectikartlab.com/composition-2020-12-anne-truitt/
Performances
Composition 2010.01 (Object World) Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 25.05.2019
Video of the Performance
Composition 2011.03 (Ich Tanze Nicht) Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 17.11.2018
Electropixel digital festival ‘Electronic Bodies and the Abstract Morphology of the Real’, curated by Julien Ottavi - Goldsmiths College, University of London - 11.07.2019
Composition 2014.01 (Untitled) Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK [off-site] - London 07.04.2021
Video of the Composition
Composition 2016.04 (Living in the Present Continuous) Poetronica Festival - Curated by Pavel Zhagun - National Centre for Contemporary Arts - Moscow - 16.12.2017
Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 24.03.2018
Composition 2016.06 (Untitled)
Poetronica Festival curated by Pavel Zhagun - National Centre for Contemporary Arts - Moscow - 15.12.2016
Video of the Performance
Composition 2017.03 (Black T-Shirt) Untitled Event - Curated by Phil Durrant - IKLECTIK - London - 11.10.2017
Composition 2017.06 (Morton Feldman) Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 30.03.2019
Video of the Performance
Composition 2018.01 (Untitled) Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 23.1.2019
Video of the Performance
Composition 2018.08 (Violin Stories) Poetronica - Curated by Pavel Zhagun - National Centre for Contemporary Art - Moscow - 21.04.2018
Video of the Performance
Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 14.07.2018
Composition 2019.05 (Untitled) Sonic Electronics Festival - Curated by Laura Netz - IKLECTIK - London - 31.05.2019
Composition 2019.06 (Technological Artefacts) Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 13.07.2019
Composition 2020.13 (Edgar Varèse)
Corpora Aliena - Desert Stories - IKLECTIK [off-site] - 23.09.2020
Video of the Composition Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK [off-site] - 13.01.2021
Composition 2021.01 (Realtime Life) XOLO Space Generators #3 - Curated by Edward Griffiths - London
Composition 2021.10 (Arnold Schoenberg) Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK London - 20.10.2021
Musician (1964 - 1990)
As a musician - Living performed with a number of leading composers and musical innovators - including_ Karlheinz Stockhausen - Cornelius Cardew - Hugh Davies - Barry Guy - and Mike Westbrook.
He is a featured soloist on a number of classic jazz - post-punk - and rock albums - including: Mike Westbrook’s Celebration (1967) - Release (1968) - and Marching Song (1969); Manfred Mann’s Chapter Three (1969) and Chapter Three Volume Two (1970); Barry Guy’s Ode (1972); and Linder Stirling’s Ludus project (1982). The Sunday Times music critic Derek Jewell described Living’s performance style and technique as ‘revolutionary’.
Social Media
He studied composition with the South African-born composer Stanley Glasser (1966 - 1969) - and philosophy at Middlesex Polytechnic (1983 - 1986).
Composer
Bernhard Living’s digitally-based compositions share a formal ‘black square’ minimalist aesthetic - and have taken minimalistic compositional techniques to what he considers to be their logical conclusion. His music is developed from simple abstract idea - and is characterised by sparse textures - glacial movement - long periods of silence - maximal repetition - minimal variation - and are reduced to their most basic and essential components.
The compositions are examples of ‘technological lessness’ - and explore what the architect and philosopher Buckminster Fuller called ‘post-industrial ephemeralisation’ - of doing more with less - of doing everything with nothing.
Influences on Living’s music include the composers Thomas Tallis - Anton Webern - Morton Feldman - Eric Dolphy - and the artists Josef Albers - Agnes Martin - and Donald Judd.
Publication - Releases
Digital album releases include:
‘Digital Voices’ - Sonospace Label (2019)
Composition 2011.03 (Ich Tanze Nicht)
Composition 2015.07 (Ольгина история (Olga’s Story))
Composition 2017.05 (Undecided Metaphor) - Iklectik Label (2020) https://iklectikartlab.com/composition-2017-05-undecided-metaphor/
Film Version
https://youtu.be/d0E1hikPHs4Film Version
Composition 2020.12 (Anne Truitt) - Iklectik Label (2021) https://iklectikartlab.com/composition-2020-12-anne-truitt/
Performances
Composition 2010.01 (Object World)
Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 25.05.2019
Video of the Performance
Composition 2011.03 (Ich Tanze Nicht)
Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 17.11.2018
Electropixel digital festival ‘Electronic Bodies and the Abstract Morphology of the Real’, curated by Julien Ottavi - Goldsmiths College, University of London - 11.07.2019
Composition 2014.01 (Untitled)
Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK [off-site] - London 07.04.2021
Video of the Composition
Composition 2016.04 (Living in the Present Continuous)
Poetronica Festival - Curated by Pavel Zhagun - National Centre for Contemporary Arts - Moscow - 16.12.2017
Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 24.03.2018
Composition 2016.06 (Untitled)
Poetronica Festival curated by Pavel Zhagun - National Centre for Contemporary Arts - Moscow - 15.12.2016
Video of the Performance
Composition 2017.03 (Black T-Shirt)
Untitled Event - Curated by Phil Durrant - IKLECTIK - London - 11.10.2017
Composition 2017.06 (Morton Feldman)
Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 30.03.2019
Video of the Performance
Composition 2018.01 (Untitled)
Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 23.1.2019
Video of the Performance
Composition 2018.08 (Violin Stories)
Poetronica - Curated by Pavel Zhagun - National Centre for Contemporary Art - Moscow - 21.04.2018
Video of the Performance
Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 14.07.2018
Composition 2019.05 (Untitled)
Sonic Electronics Festival - Curated by Laura Netz - IKLECTIK - London - 31.05.2019
Composition 2019.06 (Technological Artefacts)
Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK - London - 13.07.2019
Composition 2020.13 (Edgar Varèse)
Corpora Aliena - Desert Stories - IKLECTIK [off-site] - 23.09.2020
Video of the Composition
Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK [off-site] - 13.01.2021
Composition 2021.01 (Realtime Life)
XOLO Space Generators #3 - Curated by Edward Griffiths - London
Composition 2021.10 (Arnold Schoenberg)
Corpora Aliena - IKLECTIK London - 20.10.2021
Musician (1964 - 1990)
As a musician - Living performed with a number of leading composers and musical innovators - including_ Karlheinz Stockhausen - Cornelius Cardew - Hugh Davies - Barry Guy - and Mike Westbrook.
He is a featured soloist on a number of classic jazz - post-punk - and rock albums - including: Mike Westbrook’s Celebration (1967) - Release (1968) - and Marching Song (1969); Manfred Mann’s Chapter Three (1969) and Chapter Three Volume Two (1970); Barry Guy’s Ode (1972); and Linder Stirling’s Ludus project (1982). The Sunday Times music critic Derek Jewell described Living’s performance style and technique as ‘revolutionary’.
Social Media
