Epfach round: andere Zeiten, andere Landschaft

"Gregory Scheckler’s composition for Flow draws from field recordings at Epfach, where the Lech River bends beside the village. The recording’s distant church bells of St. Bartholomäus and fluttering water evoked memories of the composer's studies in nearby Innsbruck during 1987-88. 

"Through deep listening, he found the recording's natural rhythm at 104 BPM and created a "Flow Snare" using granular synthesis from the field recording, which he also layered several times to find sonic variety. The composition unfolds as a round—layered voices representing generations along the river—while its form mirrors the river's geography: the middle section broadens like the bend itself. A snippet from the upstream segment connects to earlier waters, and the finale unites the instruments in unison, like waters flowing together downstream. 

"Bells, waterways, synthesizers, percussion, and layers come together for an adventurous, uplifting palette."

Section of the river Lech reimagined by Gregory Scheckler. 

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Flow is a creative exploration telling the story of a river through the power of sound. The project is a collaboration between the University of Padova and the University of Würzburg, with support from Cities and Memory. Explore the full project at https://citiesandmemory.com/flow.