Jozef Van Wissem

Jozef van Wissem probably plays and composes for the most unlikely instruments in the world of contemporary improvised music: the Renaissance and Baroque lute. He has accomplished the strange feat of bridging the idiom of seventeenth century lute literature and twenty-first century free improv of the silent type. Although Van Wissem uses subtle electronic sound manipulation, he has largely stayed faithful to the particular timbre, resonance and playing technique of the lute. Van Wissem first came to be noticed a few years ago because of his radical conceptual approach to Renaissance lute music: he deconstructed existing compositions, for instance by playing them backwards. He also composed his own pieces for lute, using palindromes and mirrored structures. His music therefore does not have a traditional linear progression, nor leads to a climax, it rather stays on the same level of intensity. His music is quiet and not so much demands concentrated listening, as it will bring the listener in a state of concentrated listening - an aspect that makes Van Wissem a natural ally of the current post-reductionist improvising musicians. Van Wissem also runs the Incunabulum label, and performs regularly around the world in duo with guitar-wizard of Captain Beefheart-fame, Gary Lucas. He also works with M.B. / Maurizio Bianchi., Tetuzi Akiyama and Elliot Sharp.

Jozef van Wissem attracted attention with his first work for solo lute entitled "Retrograde, A Classical Deconstruction" which consisted of the backwards rendition of original solo lute compositions from around 1600. For two years he appropriated hundreds of original lute compositions to create this work which was inspired by his studies of Renaissance lute with Pat O'Brian in New York City. He discovered that from the Middle Ages on, a common technique in lute composition was the backwards performance of the melody.In general van Wissem's work takes the classical ideas and techniques of lute composition such as retrograde melodies and the application of mirror images, another technique idiomatic to lute tablature of around 1600, and brings them in to the 21 Century. He writes the tablature from bottom right corner to top left and to these inversions he adds new themes, accents and rhythms. In addition he has applied the cut up technique of writer William Burroughs and cut shifted, mixed and pasted the parts together so that a new entity arises. Instead of going back into history to seek out original conventions he moved backward in search of something new. The second application of the mirror images is heard on his CD's "Simulacrum" and "Objects in Mirror are Closer than they Appear". This work is based on musical palindromes, structures which sound the same when played forwards or backwards. His work with palindromes and mirror images are also related to concepts derived from the teaching of Gilles Deleuze and Lacan. His CD, "Simulacrum" consists of works using a combination of long lute notes, which are electronically enhanced in the studio and palindrome compositions, including bransles, which were written for dance. The lute electronics are achieved by inserting a microphone in to the inside body of the lute to capture certain overtones and frequencies allowing him to perform while moving around a large space. His fifth cd "Objects in Mirror are closer than they appear" consists of manipulated airfield recordings, lute palindromes and electronics. His cd "A Rose by any Other name" consists of classical lute pieces from the Golden Age by anonymous composers. Van Wissem has toured extensively, as soloist or together with the likes of Tetuzi Akiyama and Gary Lucas.

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