Hauschka shares new single & video
From new album, Philanthropy
Released October 20th
City Slang
credit: Thomas Neukum
Hauschka — aka Academy Award and BAFTA-winning composer Volker Bertelmann — unveils his new single/video, “Limitation of Lifetime,” from his forthcoming album, Philanthropy, out October 20th on City Slang. “Limitation of Lifetime” is one of Philanthropy’s more peaceful tracks, an interlude that evokes a Debussy Prelude as it glides along magical ripples. “It was an idea that I originally composed for another project,” Bertelmann says, “and I always felt a deep connection to it.” Following the “gorgeous and mournful” (Brooklyn Vegan) lead single “Loved Ones,” “Limitation of Lifetime” reveals another mesmerizing expanse of Philanthropy’s distinctive sound.
Directed and choreographed by Alexandra Waierstall, the accompanying video features a dance belonging to a film and live performance with Scott Jennings, a former dancer of Pina Bausch's Tanztheater Wuppertall. Following its filmed release today, fragments of the piece will be performed this and next year at Dia Beacon in New York. “I was touched by the choreography’s intimacy and reflection on human qualities based on vulnerability and fragility, which in my opinion is strongly connected with empathy,” notes Bertelmann. “So when we discussed the song release, I asked Alexandra if she could record Scott in a single and pure performance so that we could capture the intimate feelings from the dance and music into a video. And she did.”
Bertelmann — whose extraordinary score for All Quiet On The Western Front won an Oscar in 2023 — uses his work not only to move people, whether emotionally or physically, but also to provoke. No one sounds like the Düsseldorf-based Hauschka, which he quite reasonably celebrates on Philanthropy by revisiting past habits. “I really loved how I worked in the beginning,” he smiles. “I wanted to connect with the time I first started.” Most of the record was recorded alone on his piano in his studio, beginning in the summer of 2022, though Bertelmann never restricts his use of his instrument to its keys. He employs a Turkish davul drum, as well as, more prominently than ever, synthesizers, not least a bass synth. There are also contributions from cellist Laura Wiek and violinist Karina Buschinger, as well as Múm’s drummer Samuli Kosminen.
In the four years between 2019’s A Different Forest and the forthcoming Philanthropy, Bertelmann’s score for All Quiet On The Western Front was part of a major rush of productivity precipitated by the success of 2016’s Oscar-nominated collaboration with Dustin O’Halloran on the score to Garth Davis’ Lion. He and O’Halloran have since worked on several projects, most recently the Kate Winslet-starring Ammonite. Bertelmann’s catalog now includes almost 50 film and TV scores, with 2018’s Patrick Melrose, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, again nominated for a BAFTA, which in turn led him to work again with its director, Edward Berger, on All Quiet On The Western Front.
An occasion for celebration and reflection, Philanthropy is a carefully considered but jubilantly improvised response to recent years, with its philosophically-inclined but approachable and compassionate creator at the peak of his compositional powers.
Philanthropy Track Listing
1. Diversity
2. Searching
3. Inventions
4. Detached
5. Limitation of Lifetime
6. Nature
7. Science
8. Loved Ones
9. Generosity
10. Magnanimity
11. Altruism
12. Noise
Hauschka Tour Dates
Fri. Sep 22 - Hamburg, Germany @ Reeperbahn Festival
Mon. Nov 6 - London, UK @ Barbican, Milton Court Concert Hall
Wed. Nov 8 - Berlin, Germany @ Tingel Tangel, Theater Des Westens
Fri. Nov 17 - Lisbon, Portugal @ Misty Festival
Sat. Nov 18 - Porto, Portugal @ Misty Festival
Thu. Dec 7 - Dortmund, Germany @ Domicil
Fri. Dec 15 - Leuven, Belgium @ Het Depot
Sat. Dec 16 - Utrecht, Netherlands @ Tivoli Vredenburg
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