a.k.a. Das Erste Wiener Gemüseorchester
An extremely creative ensemble formed in Febuary 1998 by a collective of Viennese musicians and gastronomes in order to explore the sonic possibilities of musical instruments made of vegetables. Current creations include: the celery clarinet, the carrot flute, the pumpkin tympani, salad, eggplant castanets, the gourd xylophone, bongos, and even stringed instruments somewhere between an hurdy-gurdy and a dyslexic cello. Recently, the group has added kitchen appliances to their palette, for sound reinforcement.
The first CD by the Vegetable Orchestra, "Gemise" (Extraplatte Records), is a mixture of avant-garde soundsculpture, classical influences, parody, and ambient music. Their upcoming release (December 2002) features - shall we say it? - jungle influences, including dancefloor beats and visceral pumpkin rhythms.
The orchestra performs once or twice a month during the Winter and Fall, and less often throughout the year. Their home page, in English and German, is www.gemueseorchester.org .
The Gemüseorchester has a brilliant solution to the eternal question of what to do after a concert; ever in tune with the needs of audiences and starving musicians, their solution is to eat the instruments. When the performance is over, professional chefs in the orchestra's hire cook a particularly melodious soup from the orchestrina, and this soup is served to the audience, bringing an entirely new meaning to the term "Frankenstein Food." (What next, silent piano music?)