Freeër (working title was Degrees of freedom) is a study of group dynamics and the emergence written for the C/O Chamber Orchestra.

In many scientific fields and especially software development, the secret to success is creating the right kinds of teams, especially teams of the right size. The magic number seems to be seven plus minus three. Seven people creating a group can communicate and create optimally.

Classical orchestras have always been a counterexample to this rule: the standard repertoire and complex new music can only be produced if the conductor gives absolute structure and the individual musician only follows the commands. Surely, there are no other solutions.

Let’s try!

Freeër is an orchestral piece that sees the orchestra musicians as individual artists that create autonomous groups. The groups have similar goals but are not controlled from above. An optimal performer for this is C/O Chamber Orchestra. This young and innovative group always performs without a conductor, which has given the musicians special skills in communication and listening to each other. The orchestra already is experienced in creating works from the romantic orchestral repertoire to contemporary music and even opera (Poulenc: La voix humaine, Berlin 2021).

In Freeër, the orchestra is divided into numerous small chamber ensembles that can also work together, even in classical tutti sections. The groups are like organs of a body, each with their own function and character, but always related and reacting to each other organically. Because overlapping musical materials are not synchronised, the Freeër is full of emergence – spontaneous creation of new ideas.

Links:

c/o Chamber Orchestra

Review in Limelight magazine: Divertissement!: New kids on the block make a debut for the ages. *****

Keith Sawyer on The Mechanisms of Emergence