Flower of the Sea

Gunter Herbig

Gunter writes: “This project started out with the rather angular working title Electric Landscapes. Poetic ideas don’t always start under poetic circumstances. At the beginning of 2020, the landscapes of our lives were changed by a global pandemic. Lockdowns redefined our freedoms of choice, and travel to foreign or exotic places became a virtual abstract construct.”

“My musical path took a new direction some years ago when I shifted from classical to electric guitar, an instrument that offers seemingly endless creative possibilities. This transition shook up my musical decision-making processes, filling me with a renewed sense of adventure and new horizons to explore. While ensconced in my locked down home, my journey to new and reimagined places began.”

FLOWER OF THE SEA features:
In a Landscape (John Cage)
Mallorca (Isaac Albeniz)
Koyunbaba Suite op. 19 (Carlo Domeniconi)
Djilile (Peter Sculthorpe)
Three Canzonas (Douglas Lilburn)
Dream (John Cage)
Asturias (Isaac Albeniz)

Gunter Herbig plays a Gretsch "White Falcon" G7593 electric guitar through a Fender Hot Rod Deluxe amplifier (A=432kHz)

Produced by Dick Le Fort
Recorded, mixed and mastered by Dick Le Fort at the Music Production Company in Hataitai, Wellington, November 2020
Transcriptions of tracks 1, 2, 11 and 12 by G. Herbig
Transcription of track 7 by S. Wingfield and G. Herbig
Designed by UnkleFranc
Printed by Studio Q

Released: 22 June 2022
Catalogue: RAT-D125

GUNTER HERBIG BIO

Gunter was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil and grew up in Portugal and Germany. Influenced by these different cultures and aesthetic languages, Gunter has developed a highly personal, charismatic, and expressive style of playing and performance, which sets him well apart from his contemporaries. The balance of Brazilian sensuousness, German intellect and finesse, and intense Portuguese passion are the hallmarks of his playing. His performance and interpretation philosophy centres on a personal and subjective approach to music-making, a direct way of creating an even triangle between composer, performer, and audience that puts a sense of musical adventure and exploration back on stage. Gunter's expedition into the realm of the electric guitar is a ground-breaking and revolutionary departure in search of new shores.

Based in Wellington, Gunter has lived in New Zealand since 1989. He taught classical guitar at Auckland University, the Massey Conservatorium, and the New Zealand School of Music between 1991 and 2015 and has released three volumes of New Zealand guitar music on the label Naxos. His work is also available on BIS Records in Sweden and Aldilá Records in Germany.