If there are any constant artistic lines in Ernst Horn’s changeful life as musician, then his love for melancholic songs, like we know it from Celtic folk songs, or the music of Franz Schubert on the one hand and on the other hand, the wish to elaborate social and political topics in his music.
The studied and qualified percussionist, pianist and conductor Ernst Horn and his colleague Alexander Veljanov are combining as “Deine Lakaien” melancholy and avant-garde, acoustic sounds and electronic in a completely new and independent way. Surprisingly, with this concept, which is far from usual habits and recipes for success of the music industry, the project regularly reached top ten chart placements. The former orchestra leader for opera, operetta and theatre composer additionally created albums about the gulf war and the German reunification, with audio collages about armament, futurism and monetarism. A unique combination of documentary, satire and music. Ernst Horn already produced the first two albums of the band Qntal. With Helium Vola he combines the above-mentioned two elements with lyrics, mainly from the medieval period and creates new exciting electronic avant-garde, the instrumental and vocal art of the early music. Both albums, Helium Vola and Liod, are considered as unique artworks, visionary, highly professional and far from simple “crossover” material.
Sabine Lutzenberger is the “main voice” of Helium Vola. She is one of the best early music singers, soloist and member of well-known international vocal ensembles. Recently, she is more and more working with serious avant-garde music. Beside Sabine Lutzenberger, also singing: Gerlinde Sämann, Andreas Hirtreiter and Joel Frederiksen, who are working as soloists, they are singing for the opera, as concert soloists but also successfully working with ensembles like „Hilliard“, „Hesperion“ or „Huelgas“. Also participating: the singer of the Slovenian band „Silence“, Boris Benko, an excellent choice. Instruments were played by Ralf Hübner, violin and guitars, concertmaster of the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt and member of the band „Chamber“, Olga Hübner, viola, also working for the before mentioned ensembles and Jost Hecker, who is, amongst other things, cellist of the „Modern String Quartet“.
The new album Für Euch, Die Ihr Liebt, tries to express even more than the previous albums, the composition of poetry from different eras in its universal validity and recency. Ignoring all obstacles within genre compatible varieties of pop culture and serious music. Fortunately, there was enough space! The double album consists of two autonomous works. Each independent but still related, up to the order of the songs, which are referring to each other. However the topics are different: CD-1 contains love songs from different eras, CD-2 is regarding human kindness with “für euch, die ihr liebt” in relation to reality, which is often dark and disillusioning.
Beside the elaborately designed cover the CD contains an extensive booklet including all lyrics translated in two languages. Like for the previous two Helium Vola albums, the artist Tim Becker from Hamburg created the new CD artwork. The artwork is referring to the dual concept of this album. Sculptures have been built and photographed exclusively for this. Kindly, all typical fantasy and medieval stereotypes have been avoided!
Both albums start with a dedication: “A voi che amate“-“for you, who loves“. While CD-1 continues with Saber d’amor, a passionate song about unavailing love, CD-2 continues a little more down-to-earth: “Mammon straightens up“ it says in Nummus (Carmina Burana). Commented Latin texts about acquisitiveness in the intense Manifesto with the communistic manifest and in Ray Gun with atonal house sounds of “Mars attacks“ referring to the Wall Street - the song is already four years old, hence the relevance coincidentally! The (anonyme) author of the ancient French text must take responsibility for the fact that Maggie Thatcher is appearing in Quan lo pet. The sweet conjuration of paradise in Mayab, the dark answer in Mord, the hopeless Canta me, the Youngbloods cover Darkness, darkness from 1968 and the known and touching Moorsoldaten song (song of the peat bog soldiers), which was composed in the concentration camp Börgermoor, are describing deep personal consequences, disappointment, social misery and yearnings.
CD-1 sticks to love, happiness and misery with the graceful fisherman song Pescador, the thrill of the night of love in L’alba the longingly Blow, northerne wynd, the capitulating Maienzeit the sweet in so hoher swebender wunne. In Escoutatz a troubadour, musically comparable with a rap singer, is warning against unreliability of love, while in Friendly Fire, which should not be taken too seriously, love is mindlessly handled with electro clash sounds.
The tracks number 9 on both CDs, are Petrarch sonnets, which are taking an exceptional position: vocal parts in modern madrigal style, which are probably further away from the pop music genre than any other track on this album. CD-1 ends with one of the Helium Vola fans admired spring songs, while CD-2 ends with the ritual conjuration of Jose Manrique’s well-known poem: “Nuestras vidas son los rios que van a dar en la mar, qu’es el morir;.....“
Für Euch, Die Ihr Liebt is much more than the middle age electronic CD for dreaming and dancing, an epical album, which is talking about beauty, love and love failing in the world. Music that is surprising and touching with its topic and diversity. If there are still arguments for the distribution of music through physical CD media, then only concept albums, such as the present release.