Jesse Krause, 27, spent nearly a year in total fashioning instruments out of whatever he could find and writing music based on biblical stories, all to tell an old story in a new way.
Jesse and his younger brother, Thomas, 23, performed Geräuschbiest, based on Daniel 4, at the Winnipeg New Music Festival on Jan. 30. The festival, which is generally dedicated to new classical music, established an offshoot called Pop Nuit this year, which featured new pop music from four different acts over two nights.
Most of the text from Geräuschbiest is taken straight from the Bible and is harmonized with chant, Jesse explains, saying, “It’s more storytelling.”
Geräuschbiest tells the story of Nebuchadnezzar, who had a terrifying dream about a prominent tree and a call from an angel to strip it of its branches. Nebuchadnezzar asked Daniel to interpret the dream.
According to Daniel, this was a call for Nebuchadnezzar to strip himself of his wealth and power, and to live in the wilderness until he could accept God’s sovereignty over all kingdoms on earth. He was also called to renounce his sins and wickedness by being kind to the oppressed and doing what was right.
The piece ends with text from Ecclesiastes 3:18-21, that compares people to animals.
The entirety of Geräuschbiest follows this theme.
Beyond actually writing new music, Jesse took the call to produce new music seriously by inventing new instruments. The work is played with pedals; stringed instruments, including a moose antler; and an instrument called a “rotary octochord.”
“I worked in my apartment’s spare bedroom using logs, instrument strings and pickups that I harvested off of guitars, tuning pins out of a piano, bicycle parts and a lot of hardware,” he says. “The instruments were continually tweaked and changed.”
From these free harvested materials, Jesse’s instruments produced different sounds that could enable Thomas and him to create entirely new music.
“An instrument is quite specific in the types of music you can play on it,” Jesse explains. “New things are happening on [instruments that have been around for a long time], but they still sound like the same kind of music. If you build the instruments, you have control over what the tuning systems are and what you’re going to do with them.”
Jesse and Thomas have always enjoyed playing music together. Both treasure being able to collaborate musically as brothers.
“Singing with another person, especially my brother, is such an intimate thing,” Thomas says of the experience.
Pop Nuit also featured artists like Sarah Neufeld from the alternative band Arcade Fire, and the band Royal Canoe, which is made up of several Mennonite young-adult musicians.
The brothers are both talented musicians with their own musical side projects, including Thomas’s band Alanadale and Jesse’s band Flying Fox and the Hunter Gatherers. Jesse also conducts the Riel Gentlemen’s Choir and the choir at St. Margaret’s Anglican Church, Winnipeg, where he attends.
Add new comment
Canadian Mennonite invites comments and encourages constructive discussion about our content. Actual full names (first and last) are required. Comments are moderated and may be edited. They will not appear online until approved and will be posted during business hours. Some comments may be reproduced in print.