Inside No. 9, Season 4, Episode #40: Edition Wandelweiser Records
It’s only recently that I discovered the rich, and often quiet seam, that is Edition Wandelweiser Records. Since then I have tracked down a number of recordings, going blind and picking records via the descriptions alone, or wherever I can find them on the shelves of record stores. Collecting these records has made me feel like I did when hunting mail order CDs in my late teens. Aesthetically these are attractive objects, like their literary counterparts, Fitzcarraldo Editions – made famous by the use of a single colour and simple typography.
The label is best described by Alex Ross in The New Yorker: “Wandelweiser is the name of an informal network of twenty or so experimental-minded composers who share an interest in slow music, quiet music, spare music, fragile music. The word might be translated as “signpost of change” or “sage of change.” It brings to mind a vaguely Romantic image of solitary figures meandering along circuitous paths. The composers live in Switzerland, Germany, New York, and California, among other places, and are seldom all seen together.”
I wanted to share my experience when listening to many of these records. I often find myself sitting with the window open at home with a book or walking with headphones, listening quietly as the sounds around me merge with the music. To coincide with my recent move to Switzerland, I wanted to capture some local places as I explored them for the first time. Sounds were recorded as I took rests during long walks, to either enjoy a book or take in the magnificent views of Lake Geneva and the French Alps across the water.
At the end of each track listing below I have written where and when I was during the recordings on my various rambles around Lausanne and some of the surrounding villages. All of these recordings took place from 4-6 February 2025.
Many of these records are very quiet and require attention when listening. I have tried to keep things as close to the original recordings whilst merging my own field recordings; but in order to make the overall mix more consistent some post production has been done increasing volume where appropriate.
You can find out more about the label here. Or visit www.wandelweiser.de.
Houben: Ein Schlummer
Eva-Maria Houben
Air – Works for Flutes and Organs
2014
Plage de Saint-Cyprien, AM
Nov. (piano)
Beuger, Boon, Susam
Dante Boon, Solo Piano
2011
Lausanne Gare, AM
Too
Antoine Beuger
Two . Too (for Erwin-Josef Speckmann)
2009
Chexbres, Lutry and Musée cantonal des Beaux-Arts de Lausanne, PM
Phontaine
Istvan Zelenka
Phontaine
1997
Paroisse de Bourg-en-Lavaux and Pully fountain, PM
Sleeping Muse
Michael Pisaro
Hearing Music
2009
Lausanne City Centre, PM
11
Eva-Maria Houben
von da nach da
2007
Port D’Ouchy, AM
55 Similar Sounds Plus 2 Drummers Drumming
Burkhard Schlothauer
ChamberEvents
1989/99
Cully, AM
Observing Objects
Eva-Maria Houben, Rebecca Lane, Sam Dunscombe
Observing Objects
2017
Eglise du Prieuré, Pully, NOON
Treibgut IV
Irene Kurka
Chants
2017
Pages Cafe, Lausanne, PMZ
Inside No. 9 is an attempt to share unique narratives through the mixing of 9 songs. Every episode will showcase a new theme, opening up new tributaries of discovery. Inside No. 9 is presented by Peter Taylor, a former features writer for Foxy Digitalis from back in the late 2000s. Peter is a visual artist and musician and has been creating music as MAbH since 2008.
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