Barberini Music Walks

A personalized soundtrack for the Impressionism collection

In both the visual arts and music, Impressionist artists sought to capture the ephemeral moment – by recording moods, capturing atmospheres, and exploring the interplay of (sound) colors. So what could be more natural than to complement the Impressionist masterpieces of the Hasso Plattner Collection with an acoustic dimension – and turn a visit to the collection into an individual sound experience?

Barberini Music Walks pursues precisely this goal: in collaboration with composer and producer Henrik Schwarz and composer and arranger Zacharias Falkenberg, an innovative application for the Barberini app has been created, for which the two were inspired by the compositional work of the Impressionists and worked with various AI software as creative sparring partners.

The result is atmospheric soundscapes for each room in the collection that change with individual movement in the space and respond to parameters such as movement and dwell time. Thanks to technologies from game development, new compositions are created in real time that interweave with the style of the Impressionists. The Barberini app thus becomes the stage for a new, intuitive, and synaesthetic art experience.

"One of the exciting aspects of Music Walks for us was that the images speak to visitors in a very abstract way. The challenge for us was to translate the atmosphere in the rooms into sound: how does ice clink, how does a summer meadow rustle, how does warm air sound—and what do you associate with it? We then tried to bring together impressionistic music and ideas that were created in collaboration with modern AI technology. For each room, we developed a different concept, like a sound installation. The roots lie in impressionism, but the result sounds more electronic and a little lighter than the impressionists often were in their music."

Henrik Schwarz und Zacharias Falkenberg, Komponisten

“With the Hasso Plattner Collection, the Barberini Museum displays Impressionist landscape painting in a way that few other museums can match. Complementing the visit to the collection with such a fitting, atmospherically rich soundscape is a wonderful opportunity to experience the works in a completely different way and to rediscover them again and again.”

Ortrud Westheider, Director, Museum Barberini

How does Music Walks work?

Music Walks runs on the free Barberini app and can only be experienced on site at the museum. To ensure that the application runs correctly, you only need to follow a few simple steps:

• Download the app: Get the Barberini app for iOS or Android.

• Bring headphones: Ideally, ones that can connect to your smartphone via Bluetooth—but a jack connection will also work.

• Get started on site: Open the app in the museum and tap on Music Walks. To ensure everything works properly, please activate Bluetooth and location sharing—if necessary, the app will show you how to do this.

• Let's go: Discover the Hasso Plattner Collection and let Music Walks accompany you!

About Henrik Schwarz

Music producer and composer Henrik Schwarz is known for his eclectic musical approach to composition and sound design. As a producer, he combines electronic music with classical and jazz; his DJ sets at techno events and in clubs are famous worldwide, and his concerts have taken him to the stages of renowned classical institutions around the world. Schwarz has produced over 100 productions for labels such as Warner Music, Universal, Motown, !K7, Verve Records, Innervisions, and Ninja Tune, including remixes for Stevie Wonder, Boy George, Coldplay, and Mary J. Blige. Henrik regularly performs as a composer, including for the Berlin State Ballet, the Philharmonie Luxembourg, the Tonhalle Zurich, and the Stuttgart Chamber Orchestra. He has a long-standing creative partnership with Norwegian pianist Bugge Wesseltoft, and together with Dan Berglund (e.s.t.) they form the trio Wesseltoft Schwarz Berglund. Other projects have been developed with Hauschka, Frank Wiedemann, Nik Bärtsch, and painter Norbert Bisky, among others. Solo, in a duo, trio, or with a string quartet, he has performed at venues such as Barbican Hall, London; the Royal Concertgebouw, Amsterdam; the Berlin Philharmonic; the Auditorium Parco Della Musica, Rome; the Elbphilharmonie, Hamburg; the Festspielhaus Hellerau, Dresden; and at festivals such as Montreux Jazz, North Sea Jazz, Numusic, Worldwide Festival, and Melt! He created new sound logos for ZDF's "Literarische Quartett" (Literary Quartet); Apple and Nike use his compositions for global advertising campaigns.

About Zacharias Falkenberg

As a composer, Zacharias Falkenberg combines classical music, jazz, rock, pop, avant-garde, and punk. Recently, Falkenberg attracted attention with his collaboration with the Soundwalk Collective, among other things. Together, they composed the soundtrack for "All The Beauty And The Bloodshed" by Oscar winner Laura Poitras – the film was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Other projects include collaborations with Henrik Schwarz on Plunderphonia, CCMYK, and the album "Duo II" with Bugge Wesseltoft. Artists Falkenberg has worked with include Matthew Dekay, Lee Burridge, ÄTNA, the NDR Bigband, Noah Slee, Kelvyn Colt, LARY, Mulay, the Moses Yoofee Trio, and the project A Song For You. In addition, he has shaped ensembles such as Them Caged Dogs, The Chronometer's Orchestra, and The Expressions Orchestra as a composer and conductor. As a conductor and composer, he has appeared on stages and at festivals including the Elbphilharmonie Hamburg, TivoliVredenburg (Utrecht), the Gaudeamus Festival (NL), LantarenVenster (Rotterdam), XJAZZ Berlin, and the Reeperbahn Festival.

Credits

Music Walks is a project by Museum Barberini and Henrik Schwarz

Sound concept and composition: Henrik Schwarz and Zacharias Falkenberg
Idea: Achim Klapp, Marte Kräher, Esther Knuth, Carolin Stranz (Museum Barberini), Henrik Schwarz
Project management: Achim Klapp, Marte Kräher, Valerie Maul, Stefan Scholze, Carolin Stranz (Museum Barberini)

Technical implementation: Thorsten Büchner, Jasdan Jörgen, Niels Rumpf (MicroMovie) 

Scientific supervision: The project was preceded by a research semester with master's students from the Hasso Plattner Institute at the University of Potsdam, supervised by Prof. Felix Naumann and Prof. Ralf Krestel

We would like to thank the Hasso Plattner Foundation for its generous support of Music Walks.