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electroradio
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1. Pacific Fanfare (1996) 2m57s csr_0101-1.1 | 13156 |Composer: Barry Truax Pacific Fanfare was composed to mark the 25th anniversary of both the Vancouver New Music Society and the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University. It is comprised of ten soundmarks recorded by the WSP in the Vancouver area either from the early 1970’s or more recently, and thus reflects the changing soundscape of the city. The various sound signals are heard both in their original state, and digitally resonated and time-stretched in order to let them “resonate” in our own memories. 2. Pendlerdrøm (1997) 11m59s csr_0101-1.2 | 13157 |Composer: Barry Truax Pendlerdrøm (or “Commuterdream”) is a soundscape composition that recreates a commuter’s trip home from the Central Train Station in Copenhagen. At two points, one in the station and the other on the train, the commuter lapses into a daydream in which the sounds that were only half heard in the station return to reveal their musical qualities. It is hoped that the next day the commuter will hear the musicality of the station’s soundscape in a different manner as a result of the dream; the rest of us may discover the very same aspects the second time we hear the work. Pendlerdrøm was commissioned by the Danish group SKRAEP in conjunction with a project concerning commuters. They provided the original one-hour recording on which this piece is based. 3. La Sera di Benevento (1999) 10m00s csr_0101-1.3 | 13158 |Composer: Barry Truax La Sera di Benevento (or “Afternoon in Benevento”) is a soundscape composition based on environmental sounds from the town of Benevento, Italy, situated near Napoli. In particular, I imagined a hot, drowsy afternoon where the sounds of cicadas, a fountain and the local churchbell lull the listener into a reverie where these sounds mingle with a half-remembered lyric poem by the 14th century poet Giovanni Boccaccio (as read by Giorgio Magnanensi). The afternoon is framed by sequences recorded at the local train station where the arrival of a train is announced and leads the listener’s “train of thought ”into the afternoon’s daydream. The work was commissioned by Giordano Montecchi in conjunction with the project Benevento Soundfiction and was first performed in the town itself where most of the recordings originated. 4. Dominion (1991) 18m38s csr_0101-1.4 | 13159 |chamber ensemble, and tape Composer: Barry Truax Olympia Chamber Orchestra; Arun Chandra, conductor To Alex Pauk Dominion may be called a meditation on the Canadian nation in that it involves the listener in an east-to-west journey across the country. In each region it is 12 noon, starting with the noon gun in St John’s harbour, Newfoundland, followed by various foghorns and other whistles. In the long second section depicting the vast expanse of central Canada and its founding Anglophone and Francophone cultures, the noon chimes and hour bell of the Peace Tower in Ottawa are played out in counterpoint against the bells of the Basilica in Quebec City. The ubiquitous E-flat minor triad of the CPR (Canadian Pacific Railway) train horn connects the various sections, just as the transcontinental railway was instrumental in unifying the country. In the Prairies we hear the noon siren from a small town in Alberta, along with various typical ambient sounds such as wind in a wheat field and a humming power line. Another set of horns and whistles announces the arrival in British Columbia amidst the Rocky Mountains, and the work ends at noon in Vancouver with the daily sounding of the O Canada Horn. In a live performance, the 12 instrumentalists are spread out left to right like a map of Canada, the strings and winds representing the 10 provinces, and the percussion and trumpet the two territories (as they were in 1991). The performers accompany the tape by imitating its pitches and musical gestures, and near the end when the O Canada horn is sounded, they react like the fractious political regions they represent, only to finally drift back into unison with the dying reverberations of the horn. The source materials for the tape are recordings of Canadian soundmarks made in each province by the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University during a cross-country tour in 1973. All sounds are heard at their original pitch but are stretched in time, often to a hundred or more times their original duration. The extended versions allow the listener to hear out the inner harmonics inside these dramatic and unique sound signals, and it is these pitches which are picked up by the live performers and amplified. The suspension of the sounds may also give listeners the space in which to explore their own inner associations with this aspect of the Canadian cultural heritage. The title refers to Canada’s official title as a nation, a designation suggested by Sir Leonard Tilley, one of the Fathers of Confederation, based on Psalm 72: “He shall have dominion also from sea to sea, and from the river unto the ends of the earth.” The work was commissioned by Alex Pauk and the Esprit Orchestra, Toronto, to whom the work is dedicated. Composer: Barry Truax Island is a 16-track soundscape composition that blends natural acoustic environmental sounds with processed versions of the same sounds. The result is a visit to an imaginary island embued with magical realism, beginning at the shoreline, proceeding up a rapidly flowing stream, visiting a resonant cistern, climbing to the windy peak of a mountain lake, descending again through a nightime forest of crickets, and ending at a different shoreline. Original sound recordings are by the World Soundscape Project, Robert MacNevin, David Monacchi and the composer. electrocd.com Barry Truax: Islands: track detail |
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