“Crazy ideas like that often come to us when we’re driving,” says Heinz-Peter Linshalm. The clarinetist is talking about “Nexus”, the piece that Duo Stump-Linshalm will be performing at Vienna’s echoraum on June 7th, in honor of their 20th anniversary. The piece isn’t by anyone famous – in fact, it’s written by 20 someones, none of them particularly famous. It was composed serially: each composer wrote a short piece referencing the work of the composer before them. It all started with Daniel Serrano, a Vienna-based Spanish composer. “We didn’t know any of the others,” says Linshalm. Gradually, a piece of music with a high degree of “stylistic diversity” emerged, one that “requires a lot of courage on our part,” says Linshalm’s partner in the duo and in life, Petra Stump-Linshalm.
You’ve spent 20 years together on stage. Did you meet personally or professionally?
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: Both! It was in 1996.
Petra Stump-Linshalm: We met at the university; music brought us together.
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: Petra was in Amsterdam for two years in between, but we stayed in contact. When she came back…
Petra Stump-Linshalm: …we started planning projects together…
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: …and playing concerts.
Petra Stump-Linshalm: But at first, we played separately. At least, I can’t remember that we played together early on – you played…
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: …chamber music, and you…
Petra Stump-Linshalm: …with violin and cello. The idea of a clarinet duo hadn’t yet occurred to us; that came later. We said…
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: …let’s have someone write a piece for us.
Petra Stump-Linshalm: And Bernhard Gander wrote it.
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: Not for two bass clarinets, though – for bassett horns. It went over so well that we kept expanding the repertoire. Jorge Sánchez-Chiong, Judith Varga, and Christoph Herndler all composed for us; so did Beat Furrer.
Because the bass clarinet made you unique?
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: In a way – at the time it was getting more popular, but it wasn’t so present yet. Ernesto Molinari was in Vienna at the time, he helped to popularize it. But it was Harry Sparnaay that really made it famous. Petra was studying with him at the time.
Petra Stump-Linshalm: Sparnaay was a pioneer. He was playing solo concerts on the bass clarinet in the 70s, though it didn’t become really popular until more recently.
Partially due to the two of you.
Petra Stump-Linshalm: And because of that unique composition by Pierluigi Billone. No matter where we play it – Canada, New Zealand, wherever – everyone still knows it.
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: Well…it’s not as famous as a Michael Jackson song, but of course everyone in the scene knows it. Or at least, everyone interested in clarinet and contemporary music.
“You have to have the right packaging”
Petra Stump-Linshalm: Of course, a lot has changed since then. Some things were easier…
What do you mean?
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: We used to organize concerts VERY informally…
Petra Stump-Linshalm: …and just talk to people. That worked pretty well, but at some point no one responded any more. It may be a generational difference. Most festivals and concert series these days have a theme you have to fit into in order to play them. Also, the visual presentation is far more important than it used to be. Our photos at the beginning certainly weren’t as high-quality as they are now.
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: These days, you have to have the right packaging – a little bit to the detriment of the content.
Petra Stump-Linshalm: It’s too bad, sometimes. We have so much experience and so much to offer, but there’s virtually no demand for it.
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: If you’re not…
Petra Stump-Linshalm: …constantly advertising yourself, constantly present, you disappear. It used to be different; there was more attention from outside – or am I imagining it?
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: I don’t know, but I have that feeling too.
Petra Stump-Linshalm: There used to be a gap that was waiting to be filled. These days, everything is available. You can go through and just take what appeals to you, like in a supermarket. The problem is, it’s too much for some people; they can’t decide.
Is there a certain sadness that goes along with that?
Petra Stump-Linshalm: Not for me. The last 20 years have enriched me. When I imagine that I might have spent that time playing the same symphonies in the same orchestra…of course, I would have learned interesting things there, too. But the things I do, the things I organize and compose myself – that was always my dream.
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: Also because we’ve always had more ideas than opportunities.
Is that a kind of freedom?
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: I often don’t feel free, because we have to do so much. When we play, it’s always with an eye toward everything “works out” – in other words, time and money are important factors in freedom.
And in spite of everything, you’ve been freelance artists for over twenty years – a real accomplishment, to…
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: …to survive for so long, I know! Still, with our professorships, we shouldn’t complain. A lot of other people are really under pressure.
Petra Stump-Linshalm: We’re familiar with it, at least from when we started out. A lot of playing…
…but no money?
Petra Stump-Linshalm: Just as much, or as little, as now. But playing used to be worth more. Also, we promoted what we wanted to do – not the in-demand things we were able to do. That’s different now. My luxury is: sometimes I can do the things that I can’t do in my freelance life with my students.
Where does that drive come from?
Petra Stump-Linshalm: There’s a will to express oneself. I still love the clarinet; I still love contemporary music, the way I always have. The way I used to think: the world has to hear this! That attitude definitely helps you along the way. These days, though, a lot of people seem lost, because they don’t know which direction to go.
Because there are too many options?
Petra Stump-Linshalm: Yes. I always knew that I wanted to do one thing with complete conviction. That’s impossible now. You’re pulled back and forth; you hear everything, you stand behind everything…
…always hoping that something better comes along?
Petra Stump-Linshalm: In a way. Although we play in different ensembles – like the Bassett Horn Trio and Vienna Reed Quintet – the duo project was always our focus. Also because we don’t always agree.
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: But we do more and more!
Uh-oh…
Heinz-Peter Linshalm: No, no, we’re good at arguing – that’s our strength.
Petra Stump-Linshalm: A strength that’s most important in small groups. We have the same energy and motivation. And it makes deciding where to go eat much easier.
“Nexus” will premiere on June 7th at echoraum, but that’s just the beginning: author Christian Steinbacher wrote a series of twenty texts to accompany the piece(s); the whole thing will be presented at Open Music Graz in November.
Interview by Christoph Benkeser, translated from the German original by Philip Yaeger.