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electroradio
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The opening fanfare offers a blueprint for creation, an inaugural explosion which ushers in a universe of struggle, where the machines of our perception are pitted against their natural surround. Epitomized by the gestures of birds, their movements of flight are retraced according to the dictates of a machine universe, which aligns them into orders of understanding, geometries of the visible. Volière is French for aviary. The large birds’ cage is the one we’ve built ourselves, and amongst its many exhibited specimens is the music of this piece, La volière. Using the human voice as a template or ground, the sounds of birds swarm around it, finally fragmenting until they become inhabited by the machines which describe them. In a series of crescendos the sound mimes the voices of birds, using their movement to inform its own, its risings and fallings an echo of the natural order. This parallel universe, constructed along the lines of the first, bears the traces of its original, yet remains distinctly manufactured, synthesized, shaped. La volière mimes a natural process of growth and evolution, begun with the resounding clap of creation; it proffers a song of machines learned in the habits of ornithology, its own issue grown against the sound of flight. La volière was realized in the composer’s studio in 1994 with the assistance of the Canada Council [for the Arts]. 2. The Black Museum (1993) 15m05s imed_9416-1.2 | 14187 | ISRC CAD509410850Commission: ACREQ, with support from the CCA Premiere: April 27, 1993, Planétarium de Montréal (Montréal, Québec) The Black Museum is a collection of experimential artifacts or sound objects; my musical sensibility, compositional techniques, and the impressions collected; and things learned from other composers’ works which have been so fundamental to my own development. As curator of this ‘museum’ I have collected all of the ideas and experiences that mean the most to me, transforming the past into my present. This piece emphasizes a strong dynamic structure which brings together the use of such elements as the ephemeral, the fleeting, the use of rushes and sudden outbursts—a fantasy of unexpected encounters where sound illuminates the eye through the ear. The piece is composed of nine movements. The Black Museum was realized in the composer’s studio in 1993. It was commissioned with the assistance of the Canada Council [for the Arts] by the Association pour la recherche et la création électroacoustiques du Québec (ACREQ) for its Clair de terre concert series. It premiered on April 27th, 1993 at the Planétarium de Montréal. This piece is dedicated to the history of the Groupe de recherches musicales (GRM) and the composers and friends of Montréal. The Black Museum was awarded a mention at the 18th International Bourges Electroacoustic Music Competition (France, 1993); it received the First Prize at the 15th Luigi Russollo International Competition (Varese, Italy, 1993); and the Groupe de musique expérimentale de Marseille (GMEM) Prize (France, 1993). Special thanks to composer Robert Normandeau for a door sound excerpted from his Rumeurs (Place de Ransbeck) released on an empreintes DIGITALes compact disc [IMED 9002; IMED 9802]. 3. Ruptures (1991) 8m10s imed_9416-1.3 | 14188 | ISRC CAD509410860Premiere: June 9, 1991, Université Concordia (Montréal, Québec) During the formative time of Ruptures I became intensely aware of the sudden rate of political and social change in the world. The end of the cold war had spurred such an overwhelming display of worldwide unrest and instability that I felt compelled to vent my angst in a musical form. It seemed to me that the old established systems had become ruptured and were giving way to the new. The music is not intended to interpret the literal meaning of the word but to represent the large scale disfunction caused by change. Ruptures was realized in the composer’s studio, and was premiered on June 9th, 1991 during the Perspectives CEC Electroacoustic Days at Concordia University in Montréal. 4. CounterBlast (1990) 9m21s imed_9416-1.4 | 14189 | ISRC CAD509410870Premiere: December 4, 1990, Université Concordia (Montréal, Québec) CounterBlast is a composition that draws its title from the Marshall McLuhan book of the same name. My intention was to set out and then transform sounds into larger sonic/perceptual experiences similar to the way McLuhan’s words would come out at me from the page. CounterBlast consists of three movements, all are very dense and employ extreme dynamic range. The use of dynamic range is analogous to McLuhan’s use of bold text fonts enhancing the meaning of key words. The piece draws for its sound sources from concrete and synthesized sounds. These two different sound sources are intended to be perceived in such a way that they ‘counter’ one another as if each is attempting to prevail over the other. CounterBlast was realized in the composer’s studio in 1990 and premiered on December 4th, 1990 at Concordia University in Montréal. 5. The Face of the Waters (1988) 9m40s imed_9416-1.5 | 14190 | ISRC CAD509410880Premiere: June 30, 1992, Conservatoire royal de Bruxelles (Brussels, Belgium) The Face of the Waters is a composition which borrows its ideas from the sounds of water, ranging from a babbling brook to crashing waves, transfiguring these images to new sonic depths. The piece is composed of four movements, with each movement building gradually to a crescendo. The sounds used in this composition were either created electronically or by the manipulation of everyday objects, like broken springs in a chesterfield, the clanging of glass objects and lightbulbs. No real water sounds were used. Finally the sounds went through various manipulations to produced the desired effects. The Face of the Waters was realized in the composer’s studio in 1988 and received its concert premiere on June 30th, 1992 at the Brussels Royal Conservatory during the “Traces électro Europe 92” concert tour. electrocd.com Randall Smith: L’oreille voit: track detail |
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