How Wiek Hijmans makes the electric guitar socially acceptable

Wiek Hijmans (b. 1967) tirelessly devotes himself to the use of the electric guitar in contemporary composed music. He also likes to be influenced by jazz and rock in his own pieces. On Electric Language, his latest CD he presents alongside his own Victus music by eight composers. Six pieces were composed especially for him. The disc appeared on the Attacca label, as number 16 in the unsurpassed series Ladder of Escape.

Hijmans has been playing guitar since the age of 11. In 1991, he graduated as a performing musician from the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. Six years later, he completed a follow-up study with David Starobin at the Manhattan School of Music. - As the first electric guitarist in the classical department. In 1997, he received the Andres Segovia Award for his 'extraordinary guitar playing'. He has worked(ed) with such luminaries as John Zorn, Derek Bermel and Anthony Braxton.

'Old' avant-garde

In the CD booklet, Hijmans looks back somewhat wistfully to the past, when composers still sought "extreme vistas". As a teenager, he was 'completely bowled over' by a piece by arch-modernist Iannis Xenakis. Since then, he says, the lines between 'high' and 'low' art have become blurred. He himself therefore avoids crossovers and consciously presents music that bears traces of the 'old' 20^e-century avant-garde.

Starting with a lost composition by Morton Feldman. The score of The Possibility of a New Work for Electric Guitar was stolen in 1967. Based on a recovered sketch and a live recording, American-German guitarist Seth Josel made a reconstruction. The five-minute piece consists of a recurring motif of sparsely spaced notes. Provided with a solid dot of reverb, it creates the meditative atmosphere so characteristic of Feldman's music. Hijmans himself compares it to 'nouvelle cuisine': a large empty plate with a 'refined dish'.

Sound exploration

This short, dreamy piece is the prelude to a series of compositions that mainly explore the possibilities of the instrument. This results in contrasts between high-low, soft-hard, pure-distorted and staccato-legato, exploring every imaginable effect and timbre. Christian Wolff seems with Another Possibility wanting to present a practice book of different playing techniques. Maarten Altena cuts across in Language an eloquent discourse with gritty riffs and screeching 'sinus tones'.

Peter Ablingers Background makes you rejoice for a moment with fast loops versus recorded street sounds. Hijmans comes closest to a recognisable pulse with accelerating, stacked loops. Victus ('loser') has orchestral proportions, but the dense fabric of sound eventually culminates in a static freeze. Yannis Kyriakides larks in MacGuffin roaring vibrating guitar sounds with electronically processed film music in which even a singing voice appears.

Unworldly

The most coherent pieces are by Rozalie Hirs and Allison Cameron. In article 6 [waves] places Hir's light-footed melodies against a gently yelping sine tone. The many flageolets, warm tone and rising and falling drone create a mysterious, otherworldly atmosphere. The closing Tree Ferns by Cameron hits the mark straight away. Pithy, descending motifs end in rattling murmurs caused by a microphone stuck close to the strings. The melancholic themes recall a lament, which ends as abruptly as it began. Too bad Hijmans only recorded the first movement of this compelling work.

Excess

Electric guitar enthusiasts will enjoy the extensive documentation of instruments and effects equipment used. Unintentionally, it also puts its finger on a sore spot. Perhaps intimidated by the many possibilities, some composers lose themselves in an excess of unconnected ideas. But Wiek Hijmans masters his instrument to perfection and the recording is neat and spacious. Thus, he lifts the lesser pieces to a higher plane and makes the electric guitar salonable.