Bacchanal of Hörselberg
Bacchanal of Hörselberg is an electroacoustic installation by Walter Sallinen and Kaj Mäki-Ullakko for chamber orchestra, live electronics and a multichannel speaker system. The work was premiered by the chamber orchestra Avanti! with Mikko Sarvanne as the artistic producer at Helsinki Kunsthalle in February 2026.
In the work, an acoustic orchestra transforms into a polyphonic live sampler, which triggers a sonic tissue that reacts to the playing and comments on itself on top of the traditional orchestral playing.
The title of the work refers to the Venus Grotto located in the park of Linderhof Palace, commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845–1886). Designed as an extravagant spectacle, the grotto featured an artificial lake, imitation stalactites, and gleaming surfaces, and was intended to recreate the setting of the first act of Richard Wagner's opera Tannhäuser.
In Bacchanal of Hörselberg, the pseudo Wagnerian music played by the orchestra – inspired by the exuberance and unintentional kitsch spirit of Venus Cave – is given a “coating” that spreads out through the speakers. By confronting the orchestra with its own alter ego, the work seeks to illuminate the contemporary connotations and essence of classical orchestral music.
Further reading about the work in Eetu Viren’s essay → LINK (in Finnish)
