A pioneer of the hang, a Swiss-invented handpan instrument, enthralling Austrian musician Manu Delago—who performed alongside Björk during her Biophilia tour—launched his latest album, Parasol Peak, with this breathtaking live ensemble performance set among the peaks of the Alps.

Climbing into the ever more rarefied atmosphere of the snow-capped European mountain range, the musicians—under Delago's orchestration—performed a collection of brand new compositions in different locations, blurring the boundary between landscape and instrument. For Delago, collaboration and experimentation are natural companions, where Parasol Peak emerged from of a desire to get outside of the studio and into the wilderness—seeking to compose and perform both within and as part of nature (something close to our hearts), using only totally acoustic instruments.

The Austrian artist was not only inspired to incorporate the ensemble’s natural surroundings into the performance, but also the percussive sounds of the group’s climbing gear. Delago comments: “Of course performing on acoustic instruments has been done for thousands of years, so I wanted to add an extra component: nature, or more precisely—the Alps. I wanted to utilise our surroundings by incorporating lots of percussion sounds like trees, water, little rocks as well as the gear that we were carrying, such as helmets, carabiners or ice axes."

'I find restrictions inspiring'

An interview with Manu Delago

1. How did you come up with this pretty out-there idea?

I love music, I love mountains, so I just brought the two together. Two years ago I made a first short video in the Alps called ‘Freeze’ which was picked up by Red Bull and had millions of views. We had a great time making it and then decided to do a bigger project that’s more challenging in both aspects - the music as well as the mountaineering - and then we ended up doing ‘Parasol Peak’.  

2. What was it like filming at this altitude—did it throw up any unexpected difficulties?

I wouldn’t say unexpected, but certainly lots of difficulties. The main challenge was the weather and freezing temperatures (around zero degrees celsius). We had to stay at each location for several hours and then play fragile music. Also, the technical side of recording a film and album isn’t particularly easy when you don’t have electricity and there are extreme weather conditions.

3. You use a number of what we could call 'prepared' or found instruments—such as a tree rigged with a mic, and played with brushes. Was this planned?

Basically we had to carry all instruments up the mountain ourselves, so it felt like an obvious idea to use some ‘instruments’ - or sounds - that were already there. I spent a few months scouting locations before we shot the film, and in that time I also planned all those things and composed the music accordingly. When you record/write music in the studio, you have access to sample libraries and therefore pretty much any sound in the world available, but I actually really enjoyed the restrictions of writing for a group of seven musicians who have to carry everything they play. I find restrictions inspiring.

4. The final scene, on the peak, is quite hair-raising. Can you think of anybody who has done this before? 

And what was it like for the band being up there?There might be a unique element to this but you never know. Playing on the peak was a truly special moment for the ensemble. Admittedly, it was extremely cold and I couldn’t really think about anything else. But now, looking back to it, I’m proud of the ensemble that they played such beautiful and emotional music under those circumstances. It’s very special that we captured that very moment forever.  

5. What is the link between composition and mountaineering, for you?

For me personally composition is about new ideas and being innovative. And I think for some of the world’s best mountaineers that’s the same. They are trying to climb new peaks and routes, and I guess that’s what I’m trying to do with my music.