Music for the film Stump the Guesser
(Guy Maddin, Evan Johnson, and Galen Johnson)
Instrumentation: flute/piccolo/bass flute, oboe, clarinet (1/4 lower)/bass clarinet, bassoon/contrabassoon, horn, trumpet, trombone, tuba, percussion (2 players*), keyboard 1 (electronic keyboard + Chromelodeon*), keyboard 2 (piano), 2 violins, viola, cello, bass
*Partch instruments in the collection of Musikfabrik, including Diamond Marimba, Cloud Chamber Bowls, Chromelodeon*
Premiere (online): Ensemble Musikfabrik, Elena Schwarz (conductor). Recorded May 2, 2021, Kölner Philharmonie.
Commissioned by Acht Brücken/Musik für Köln, for Ensemble Musikfabrik. Dedicated to Thomas Fichter.
Duration: 19 min.
“In his liner notes, Tim Rutherford-Johnson describes the film as having a “surrealistic, absurdist tone,” and being inspired by the Russian poet and dramatist Daniil Karms (1905-1942). Cheung responds to the material, and to Karms’ aesthetic, with nearly everything but the kitchen sink: Harry Partch’s instruments, thunderous, motoric percussion that references Russian futurism, swing-era jazz brass, with wah-wah mutes, glissandos, and altissimo stabs, and a pistol firing (there is a game of Russian roulette on screen). I would greatly like to see how it syncs up with the film, but null and void as an aural document has a beguiling sound world.”