A set of islands, emerging from the seafloor, standing isolated from one another above water. In Inseln, this image manifests itself musically as combinations of long tones, fading in, fading out, overlapping in everchanging permutations to form islands of sound in a sea of silence. - Cenk Ergün

A multi-channel sound work by Turkish-American composer Cenk Ergün, Inseln was first realized as an installation for six loudspeakers at Zionskirche, Berlin in March 2021. 44 minutes in length, the work is solely made up of long tones and melodic fragments sung by countertenor Rupert Enticknap. Throughout the piece, isolated tones alternate with dense, choir-like textures comprising up to 12 simultaneous layers of Rupert’s voice.

Inseln at Zionskirche (released only digitally) is a recording of the sound installation at the church, the space for which the work was intended. In this recording, Rupert’s voice is enveloped in the natural 4+ seconds-long reverb of the church, accompanied by the sounds of children, birds, and trams.