All Solids Melt Into Aether is a live performance by Maria W Horn using unique organ recordings and audio synthesis to convey harmonic stability and collapse.

All Solids Melt Into Aether draws on a series of explorations into harmonic (in)stability due to fluctuating air pressure, using recordings of the tuneable Liardon/Felsberg choir organ located in the church of La Tour-de-Peilz, Switzerland. The small organ, tuned in 1/4 comma meantone temperament, pumps air into the bellows mechanically using a foot pedal. Horn recorded the pipes individually by singular pedal strokes, with the changing air pressure giving the end of each note a slow downward glissando in combination with a subtle diminuendo. As a parallel sound source, Horn used the audio synthesis and algorithmic composition system SuperCollider to produce extremely stable or unstable pitches with careful precision. This piece is an exploration of the intrinsic beauty in both harmonic balance and its collapse – an analogue to the human struggle to manifest and maintain stability and systematisation amid the perceived entropy of existence.

Part of Re-Imagine Europe – New Perspectives for Action. Co-funded by the European Union.

Premiere: Akousma 2025 (FR)
This work is available for touring.
Further enquiries: grm@ina.fr