A previously unreleased theatre soundtrack made for Icelandic choreographer Margrét Sara Guðjónsdóttir, whom Peter Rehberg had a decade long collaboration with until his untimely passing in 2021. A psychological journey through the mental effects of sound on space and subsequently the mind.
Peter Rehberg is known for his pioneering electronic work with computer software which over time evolved into a modular set up alongside running MEGO and then Editions Mego labels.
Rehberg was a prolific collaborator, with other musicians and with contemporary dance and theatre productions, most notably with French artist and choreographer,
Gisèle Vienne with whom he created a series of soundtracks from Showroomdummies, released under the name DACM in 2002 (Showroomdummies MEGO 056), to Crowd in 2017. A collection of Rehberg's solo works for Vienne was released in 2008 (Work for GV 2004-2008 EMEGO 092). The outfit
KTL, with
Stephen O'Malley, was initiated by Gisèle Vienne for her work Kindertotenlieder and subsequently made a series of soundtracks for Vienne's works branching off into a prolific series of live shows. The work Rehberg did for theatre and performance teased out aspects of his practice one may not have encountered in his own solo work as PITA or that of collaborations with other musicians.
Editions Mego presents a previously unreleased theatre soundtrack made for Icelandic choreographer Margrét Sara Guðjónsdóttir, whom Rehberg had a decade long collaboration with until his untimely passing in 2021. The original composition for Liminal States was created by Rehberg for the performance Pervasive Magnetic Stimuli in 2018 and then revisited as a catalyst for the concepts behind Liminal States. This work is based on an ongoing artistic research conducted by the choreographer into altered states of perception through phenomenological embodiment. It is the last in a trilogy dealing with the notion of larger forces that act on us beyond our conscious mind. The trilogy consists of Pervasive Magnetic Stimuli (2018), Boundless Ominous Fields (2024) and now Liminal States (2024).
Rehberg's score for Liminal States is a vast canvas of spectral ambience at once tangible and unfathomable in its constantly shapeshifting lysergic dread. The results are a psychological journey through the mental effects of sound on space and subsequently the mind. The first part presents cascading waves of shimmering electronics laying the groundwork for the second part where the psychological illusion splinters into all manner of sonic effects taking the listener on a deep mental voyage. If references are witnessed the late period long form hallucinatory works of
Coil, such as Time Machines and Constant shallowness leads to evil, are amongst a similar mind message delivered here. Unlike any other release in Rehberg's output Liminal States is a single long form work which, despite the form, retains Rehberg's idiosyncratic sound vision.
Guðjónsdóttir and Rehberg's collaboration blurs that relationship into a greater force which truly enables the theme of liminal states to unfold in a brave new fashion. Rich in timbre and sonic invention this is powerful work easily holding its own outside of the intended performance whilst still complimenting the missions statement entirely. This profound collaboration has the cumulative effect where the concept and soundtrack are one and may be one of the strongest works in the entire Rehberg canon.
Born 1968 in London, Peter Rehberg moved to Vienna in the 1990s and began his musical career there, when the aesthetic possibilities of what has been called "laptop music" were just being discovered. His pioneering work has spanned almost thirty years, both as a solo artist with his Get series of albums and through numerous collaborations such as Fenn O'Berg (with
Jim O'Rourke and Christian
Fennesz),
KTL (with
Stephen O'Malley), R/S (with
Marcus Schmickler) and
NPVR (with Nik Void).
He has performed in concert all over the world, and in festivals such as SONAR, All Tomorrows Parties, CTM Berlin, MUTEK, Donaufestival and won the Prix Ars Electronica in the Digital Music and Sound Art categories in 1999. His radical, free and expressive musical approach was also associated for almost twenty years with the work of the choreographer and director
Gisèle Vienne.
Peter Rehberg was also recognized for his key role in the dissemination of experimental music, notably through his label
Editions Mego, and the publication of albums by world-renowned artists such as Fennesz,
Kevin Drumm, Oneothrix Point Never,
Caterina Barbieri,
Florian Hecker,
Julia Reidy,
Oren Ambarchi, Russel Haswell,
Klara Lewis, KTL,
KMRU, Mark Fell, among others. He also launched, in partnership with GRM, the
Recollection GRM and
Portraits GRM labels.
Peter Rehberg passed away suddenly on July 22, 2021.
