 Christoph
Haas (*1953)
"One of the most creative percussionists of our
time." (Lift)
"Christoph Haas is the cosmopolitan, worldly-wise master of rhythm. He
is familiar with rhythm cultures from Latin America to India. A composer
and percussionist who can merge the complexities of rhythm and sound to
form a harmonic entity. He is aware of the relationship between space and
sound. Highly intelligent, and yet always rooted in the magic and ritual
source of rhythm and sound. His compositions for the "Ensemble Cosmedin"
open up spaces - a window to transcendence. They establish the unity of
past and present, reflectively, encouragingly. They are full of joy, of
clarity and inner dancing. Music, which does not make a statement, but
which is all-meaningful. Heaven and earth. Man and mystery. Abundance and
stillness." (Hansdieter Werner)
Christoph Haas started in the Sixties with the Drum
Set. Later he studied in West Africa, Latin America and South India.
Since the 1980s he is performing all over the world. As a solo
percussionist he developed extensive international concert activities.
He developed innovative techniques on the Persian-Indian long-necked
lute tambura. His compositions for percussion solo and chamber music are
characterised by multilayered polyrhythmics, often in odd time metres
and with a sophisticated handling of timbre and harmonics.
Christoph Haas worked together with the clarinetists Giora Feidmann and
Nikola Lutz, the violinist Paul Giger and the harpist Rüdiger Opperman,
the guitarists Marcello Peghin and Dieter Fischer, the saxophonists Gert
Anklam and Enzo Favata, the flutists Gabriele Dalferth and Susanne
Schietzel-Mittelstraß, the Percussionists Njamy Sitson, Uwe Kühner and
Thomas Eyison and many other wonderful musicians. He has released
numerous CDs as a soloist, with "Banda Maracatù" and in the Ensemble
Cosmedin with singer Stephanie Haas.
"Christoph Haas é um apaixonado pelo ritmo. Esse
encanto se expresa efetivamente no carinho que nutre pelo samba. Sua
musicalidade e swing surpreende até mesmo os brasileiros."
(Backstage, Rio de Janeiro)
"Christoph Haas doesn't seize upon the
superficial, fashionable appeal
of the exoticness of archaic instruments, rather he listens to the sound
of their souls. It is remarkable with what sensitivity and dexterity Haas
is able to seamlessly shift between different shades of sound. The true
attraction of this multicultural journey comes from the rapturous
overtones of this music. The room is filled with a humming and singing of
the finest vibrations. Overtones are always there, whether Haas nimbly
plays the gong or drum or whether he draws buzzing sounds from the
berimbao." (Badische Zeitung)
"Christoph Haas transforms space and time with
drum, musical bow, gong and voice. He creates sounds of great depth and
bewitches his audience with musical transformations that imperceptibly
slide into each other." (Leonberger Kreiszeitung)
"A master of silence and transcendence." (Schorndorfer
Zeitung)
"Christoph Haas not only plays his instruments, he plays with them. The
performance was amazingly coherent in spite of the continuous change of
instruments." (Schwarzwaelder Bote)
"Christoph Haas plays virtuoso sequences with matchless dexterity. His
hands appear to barely touch the drumhead. In his percussive melodic
playing of the musical bow, gentle overtones unfold in the concentrated
silence of the room." (Ludwigsburger Kreiszeitung)
"An intense and fascinating listening experience as well as an
encounter with an exceptional musician. Christoph Haas is a master of
improvisation. The spell conveyed by his simple yet incredibly nuanced
percussion instruments enchants the spellbound listeners. A superior
performance that the audience listened to breathlessly, only to honor
Christoph Haas with jubilant applause." (Marbacher Zeitung)
"Gentle sounds fascinated the listeners and instilled them with inner
peacefulness: composure and devotion to a world of sound."
(Murrhardter Zeitung)
"One of the most outstanding percussionists, a first class musician."
(Stuttgarter Zeitung)
"Rhythm is a kind of world formula. A language common to all people.
Christoph Haas proves that. His inspiration comes from Arabic, African,
Indian and South American traditions. He improvises, he dances, he sings.
He makes it seem as if the drum were breathing, as if the drum were singing on its own. He plays clearly and
with great feeling. One feels a ritual power, rich in simplicity, with an
original, vital brilliance. The frame drum has great richness in Christoph
Haas' hands. He achieves this both through his rhythmical virtuosity and
intensity, and also through the amazing fullness of sound. In his
performances, there is a gradual increase in intensity which leads to
something like a poetic trance. It bewitches us and wakens our senses. He
is the smiling and knowing shaman, sometimes holding the drum in front of
his face like a mask through whom the ancestors of the world speak to us."
(Hansdieter Werner)
Aside from his work on stage Christoph Haas loves to share his
experiences in workshops and drum circles, blending the ancient
knowlegde of tribal cultures with a contemporary approach.
"I had the opportunity to see you yesterday for the first time. I was
very moved by your performance and your musical ability. I must admit that
I was very surprised, but very happily moved with your songs. More so,
when we moved to play drums, with your talent to direct, everyone stood to
dance and we felt `the rhythm of the saints`... The music produced by the
people was wonderful, the dancing expressed by their souls, and the joy in
it was fantastic." (Matilda Villaragga) |