Gypsy Brahms Animation: November 7, 2011

This latest noteworthy video features two experiments: first, a musical adaptation by the ZRI Ensemble of Johannes Brahms’ Clarinet Quintet in B-, Op.115; and second, an imaginative visual representation of this performance in real time. ZRI is a London-based quintet dedicated to re-examining the gypsy roots of Brahms’ music by bringing them more explicitly into focus than otherwise heard in the original scores; ZRI stands for Zum Roten Igel (the Red Hedgehog Tavern) - a Viennese pub where Brahms came to drink and socialize – and the ensemble consists of clarinet, violin, cello, accordion, and santouri (a type of hammered cymbalom). Their name stands for the Zum Roten Igel (the Red Hedgehog Tavern) - Viennese pub where Brahms came to drink and socialize – and consists of clarinet, violin, cello, accordion, and santouri (a type of hammered cymbalom). Their performance of the Andante from Brahms’ Quintet adapts not only the instrumentation but the actual music, as ZRI mixes his original work with improvisation and dances from the Carpathian mountains. Joining this musical performance is a visual “dance” realized by Stephen Malinowski (check out his Youtube channel or his website), where each instrument is rhythmically and melodically represented as it moves from one note to the next (based on a MIDI realization) which quickly becomes hypnotic. Tell us what you think!

ZRI’s Gypsy Re-imagining of the Andante from Brahms’ Quintet with Animation