The Vegetable Orchestra
The Vegetable Orchestra is an Austrian musical group who use instruments made entirely from fresh vegetables.
History
The group was founded in February 1998 in Vienna and consists of ten musicians, a cook, and a sound technician. All of the members of the ensemble are active in various artistic areas and have worked together conceptualizing and carrying out their project.The interdisciplinary approach is a crucial factor in researching and further developing vegetable music. The intention is to create a sonorous experience which can be perceived with all senses.
Musical concepts of the Fluxus movement, for example compositions from John Cage could be considered as a source of inspiration for the unique orchestra. Their distinctive repertoire also seems to have deep roots in sound art in addition to experimental and electronic music because they play unheard-of interpretations of Igor Stravinsky, the German electronic band Kraftwerk, or the Austrian band Radian as well as their own compositions. All of the pieces feature various forms of graphical notation and are exclusively composed for live performance.
Members
The ensemble consists of Jürgen Berlakovich, Verena Fuchs, Susanna Gartmayer, Barbara Kaiser, Matthias Meinharter, Jörg Piringer, Ingrid Schlögl, Ulrich Troyer, Stefan Voglsinger, and Martina Winkler.Instruments
The instruments are made of carrots, celery, peppers, squash, zucchini and other raw vegetables prior to the performances. Their sound is amplified with the use of special microphones. After the performances, the leftover vegetables and off-cuts are cooked into soup for the audience.As of March 2019, since the band's inception, more than 150 types of instruments had been invented and include carrot xylophones, radish bass flutes, pumpkin drums, leek violins, onion maracas, and many others.
Influence
The group performs and average of 20-30 shows a year and have toured Europe, the United States, and Asia, playing gallery openings, exhibitions, community events, and headlining their own shows.They received a Guinness World Record for "Most concerts by a vegetable orchestra", for 77 performances by a group of musicians playing with instruments constructed out of vegetables, having performed in venues worldwide from April 1998 to September 2012. According to the BBC, they inspired the formation of similar ensembles like the London Vegetable Orchestra and the Long Island Vegetable Orchestra.
Discography
Albums
- Gemise
- Automate
- Remixed
- Onionoise
- Green Album
The second part of Gemise is named Ogludschda, which is Viennese dialect for Abgelutschter, or English sucked off, in the second meaning–in German–for a music piece which has been played too often.
EPs
- Remix Trilogy
- Remix Trilogy
- Remix Trilogy
- ''Remix Conclusion''