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1. Theodore Lotis: Sibylla’s Voice (2001) 14m50s mr_2002-1.1 | 15793 |8-track tape Composer: Theodore Lotis Commission: Musiques & Recherches Premiere: October 2, 2002, L’Espace du son (Brussels, Belgium) In classic mythology, and even in more ancient legends, sibyls were female prophets whose ecstatic utterances were inspired by Apollo. According to those legends, some sibyls could interpret dreams, and others could make their voices heard after death. Their oracles were taken seriously and with special care. Virgil, in his Aeneid (book 6, 42-51), describes the Cumaean Sibylla, the most famous of all sibyls, thus: “She changes her features, and the colour of her countenance; her hair springs up erect, her bosom heaves and pants, her wild heart beats violently, the foam gathers on her lips and her voice is terrible.” Their simplest words were covered up by the most complicate and misleading ecstatic screams. Therefore, it was extremely difficult for someone to understand the meaning of the oracles. When Annette Vande Gorne asked me to compose a multi-channel piece, the idea of covering up simple musical ideas into complicate and obscure textural morphologies was pestering my mind. Sibylla’s Voice uses heavily treated instrumental (violin) and vocal recordings, in order to produce a strange ‘vocal’ feel (due to convolution between the violin and the vocal sounds). It is not a piece about movement in terms of displacement between loud speakers. It is rather about the co-existence of diverse spatial environments. It is also about how the same simple musical elements, an interval of a second for example, behave under different and constantly changing and contrasting spatial environments. Like Sibylla’s words, those elements are sometimes covered up by thick and often obscure spectral textures. People in our days also use to seek advice from ‘sibyls.’ It is possibly the unknown and unforeseen future that lent colour to their prophecies. [ii-08] Sibylla’s Voice was realized in 2001 at the Métamorphoses d’Orphée studio in Ohain (Belgium) and the studio of City University in London (England, UK) and premiered on October 2, 2002, during the festival L’Espace du son in Brussels (Belgium). The piece was commissioned by Musiques & Recherches. Thanks to Eleni Mpratsou for her voice. The present version is a stereo mix of the original 8-track piece. Sibylla’s Voice was a finalist at the 2nd Biennal Acousmatic Composition Competition Métamorphoses (Brussels, Belgium, 2002). It has been recorded on the compact disc Métamorphoses 2002 (MR 2002, 2003). Christian Bouchard: Angle mort (2001-02) 13m50s mr_2002-1.2 | 14007 |Duel-1; Accident; Duel-2; Nuit morphinique [Morphinic Night]; Transfert [Transfer]; Cohabitation microscopique [Microscopic Cohabitation] / souvenirs épars [Scattered Memories] Composer: Christian Bouchard Premiere: October 30, 2002, Tentacules.03, La Sala Rossa (Montréal, Québec) To my bike-riding friend Electronic sounds, oral sounds, breathing, crowds, lifts, street corners, mechanical objects Using external mass phenomena (demonstrations, gatherings, noisy bars) as a starting point, I first made an association with the struggle between antibodies and viruses and with the auditory point of view of a sick person surrounded by machines in a hospital room. Then, as I was in the process of creating this piece, came the story of a friend who was, for an instant, in someone else’s blind spot. This incident penetrated the form and content of Angle mort. A cinema for the ears, microscopic projections. The composer wishes to thank the Canada Council for the Arts for its support. [02] [Public Prize] 2a. Christian Bouchard: Duel-1 (2001-02) mr_2002-1.2.2a | 23799 |Composer: Christian Bouchard 2b. Christian Bouchard: Accident (2001-02) mr_2002-1.2.2b | 23800 |Composer: Christian Bouchard 2c. Christian Bouchard: Duel-2 (2001-02) mr_2002-1.2.2c | 23801 |Composer: Christian Bouchard 2d. Christian Bouchard: Nuit morphinique (2001-02) mr_2002-1.2.2d | 23802 |Composer: Christian Bouchard 2e. Christian Bouchard: Transfert (2001-02) mr_2002-1.2.2e | 23803 |Composer: Christian Bouchard 2f. Christian Bouchard: Cohabitation microscopique / souvenirs épars (2001-02) mr_2002-1.2.2f | 23804 |Composer: Christian Bouchard 3. Ondrej Adamek: Un souffle, une ombre, un rien (2001) 10m56s mr_2002-1.3 | 15795 |Composer: Ondrej Adamek First a breath, an exhalation, a sigh; hesitant, uncertain. Then uncontrollable speed from all sides. And all at once comes emptiness, lost, far away in a deep, humid, blue, icy darkness. The sigh returns, multiplied in full force, with of red, burning energy. It culminates, explodes and disappears in drops, little drops, droplets, alone, solitary, melted, lost… [First Prize] 4. Apostolos Loufopoulos: Aura (2002) 12m37s mr_2002-1.4 | 15796 |Composer: Apostolos Loufopoulos Aura is an acousmatic work completed in March 2002. The title can be interpreted in two different ways: firstly aura suggests a “gentle breeze”, indicating a certain type of motion, which characterizes the sounding content morphologically. Secondly, the context is related metaphorically to the ideas of birth and evolution of life, associated with invisible worlds existing behind the materials of nature: what we experience in the natural environment is a result, a “framing” of a whole universe of “invisible” evolutionary processes, which constitute a “hidden” microcosmic reality. Throughout the context of Aura the sound world is presented as “unfamiliar”, non-relating to certain sources, however it often momentarily develops into “familiar”, indicating recognizable natural motions of insects-birds, or “virtual” natural images and landscapes. The “familiar”-’unfamiliar’ sonic relationship is used to indicate the existence of a complex, microcosmic universe, which evolves behind the “scenery” of nature, in the core of even the simplest form of natural life. The sound material used in the construction of this work mainly derives from non-natural sound sources. Electronically generated and human-based gestural sounds are utilized in transformations, but also sounds recorded from nature have been employed. The “concrete” sonic events are layered in front of a sustained, “synthesized” harmonic background, with which they interact and create different types of space. The recorded “cricket” sound in the final section is used as a symbol of nature, presenting the simplicity of the perceptible natural world, which contrasts with the complexity of the invisible world behind. 5. Gilles Gobeil: Éclats de perle (2002) 12m40s mr_2002-1.5 | 15797 |Composer: Gilles Gobeil Free adaptation of a gnostic text from the second century A.D. entitled Hymn of the Pearl and attributed to Bardesanes (152-222). Éclats de perle is a version, shorter and acousmatic, of La perle et l’oubli (1999-2002) for ondes Martenot and tape. 6. Laurent Bigot: Sur le môle (2001) 10m04s mr_2002-1.6 | 15798 |Composer: Laurent Bigot Port of Genova, on the pier. My mind swings hither and thither. On one side, industrial activity, metallurgical industry, cranes, trucks. On the other, the peace of Mediterranean landscapes, the water and its perpetual movement. The eye and the ear play at choosing or mixing, they redefine, change the perspectives. I like this mixture of antagonistic worlds. 1. Thomas Cahill-Jones: DeLeTE ’e’ Unit (2000) 10m06s mr_2002-2.1 | 15800 |Composer: Thomas Cahill-Jones Three ideas were paramount in my mind whilst composing this piece. (1) The idea of organic growth processes leading to (2) transformations of sound materials which, through juxtaposition, resulted in (3) landscapes of the real, unreal and surreal. However, despite the fact that certain ideas helped form the piece, its success ultimately lies in the aural result, not my wordy explanations — enjoy. [First Prize “Students”] 2. Monique Jean: low memory #2 (2001) 10m23s mr_2002-2.2 | 13928 |bass flute, piccolo, and 4-track tape Composer: Monique Jean Commission: Claire Marchand, with support from the CALQ Premiere: April 8, 2001, Flûte! un concert…, Studio 12 — Maison de Radio-Canada (Montréal, Québec) A meeting of instrumental sound as immediacy and individuality, with deliberately restrained sonorities, and electroacoustic sounds with dense deep sonorities and movements as an opening onto otherness at the very heart of the sound structure itself. The original version of this piece is for bass/piccolo flute and 4 track tape. [02] [Mention] 3. Juan Manuel Marrero: Lascivia Pristina II (2002) 9m34s mr_2002-2.3 | 15802 |Composer: Juan Manuel Marrero On a formal level, this work is focused on a detailed, very meticulous development of movement, space and density. Within the sound evolution of the piece, in uninterrupted expansion, all sorts of local accidents are liberated, micro- and macro-forms, colours and contrasts rich and multiple, which move towards an acoustic world (electroacoustic) which has never been heard before, or which is, at the least, uncommon. In this piece, the violence, dynamism, speed, concentration and sudden liberation of energies become veritable formal constants. These discursive categories emerge as more than anecdotal attributes. They are genuine articulatory principles around which the real aesthetic project of the work proceeds and is constructed. [Mention] 4. Sachiyo Takahashi: ParaDice (2001) 10m09s mr_2002-2.4 | 15803 |Composer: Sachiyo Takahashi The main material of this piece is Nô-kan, the flute used in Nô theatre. The most remarkable feature of the sound of Nô-kan is in the mixture of sound/breath—strong attack with breath sound, a certain “run-away” of breath with special finger technique and high intensity in the sound texture itself, which is caused by sustained high breath pressure between the instrument and the mouth. This characteristic of Nô-kan works on various levels to enrich the actual performance of Nô. Nô-kan acts in the manner of “percussion,” to articulate time
and space (the pitch of the instrument is sometimes less important than the
articulation). In a sense, Nô-kan is not just an instrument to play “music”, but an instrument to articulate space, cut into the micro moment of time, express the passion of drama, illustrate landscape poetically, and communicate with the rhythm of the dancing body…, flexibly shifting through different levels from moment to moment, from microscopic to macroscopic, from abstraction of sound/noise to music. This project is a study of this particular kind of “instrument”, in other words, an attempt to explore this “space of Nô-kan”, not in a traditional way but with the help of new technology. Here, several pairs of poles become ambiguous because of the perpetual shifts between the following parameters: sound and breath, sound(noise) and music, abstract and concrete, micro-image and macro-image, oriental and western. The title means “paradise” and “para-dice”, a pair of dice. They say that the sound of Nô-kan can communicate with the other side of the world—maybe paradic(s)e exists in sound/as sound/with sound. [Mention] 5. Jacky Mérit: Éthique épique (2002) 11m59s mr_2002-2.5 | 15804 |Composer: Jacky Mérit “Dissonant suspension — suspended acceleration — impressed fragment — metallurgical conglomerate — narrative approach to sounds — reactional chemistry — polyphonic impulse — quantic polyphony — the dramatic art of our individual, libidinal energies, modes of the life urge…” These are some of the notions that occurred to me as I was composing this piece. But what interests me here is what I would call “eidetic space” or how sound affects the interior space of a person. Opening up an internal listening process which allows the creation of a space to channel, not only feelings or emotions, but also a means of appreciation through the experience of forms, on the micro and macro levels. Internal perceptions of the way of moving on an energetic level through cellular forms, through solid materials, or through geography or geological time… by truly trying to approach an artistic articulation of our actual capacity to represent to ourselves these large and little situations. The more energy there is, the more is given, the more reflection is generated on death, life, sex, fear, philosophy, poetry. The less energy there is, the less flesh and blood there is, the less it consents to voluptuous pleasure and so to knowledge of self, and the limits to exceed. My work allows me to find my existential autonomy and touch everything that is alienated. Thus, through the developing music a crack is created where pain is used as a moving force in order to challenge this state, this “lie.” Our cultural heritage is such that we must constantly revisit our power to appreciate. This individual appreciation is thereby forced to untangle it own feelings/emotions from the collective ones. An “emotional mould” which, in this electroacoustic Éthique épique is the object of ambiguous articulations… “Without the imperialism of the concept, music would have taken the place of philosophy: it would have been the paradise of the inexpressible obvious, an epidemic of ecstasies.” (Émile Cioran) [Mention] 6. Nikos Stavropoulos: Scene III (2002) 8m00s mr_2002-2.6 | 15805 |Composer: Nikos Stavropoulos The piece is a sonic invention of a memory. Time helps to fade memories fade into each other, reorganise them, colour them, merge them into the unreal. Was I really there? [Mention] 7. Robert Normandeau: Chorus (2002) 14m00s mr_2002-2.7 | 14031 |Ouverture [Overture]; Judaïsme [Judaism]; Christianisme [Christianity]; Islam [Islam]; Confrontation [War]; Douleur [Pain]; Paix [Peace] 16-track tape Composer: Robert Normandeau Commission: Réseaux des arts médiatiques, with support from the CCA Premiere: July 13, 2002, Festival de musiques sacrées (Fribourg, Switzerland) To the victims of September 11, 2001 Chorus. Latin word for choir. To sing in chorus, to voice one’s agreement. To chorus. The music is inspired by the subject of the theatre play Nathan der Weise (“Nathan the Wise”) (1779) by Gotthold Ephraim Lessing (Kamnez, Germany, 1729 — Braunschweig, Germany, 1781), which demonstrates the tolerance ideal of the Age of the Enlightenment. The play—staged by Denis Marleau in Palais des Papes (Avignon, France) in 1997 — is based on the Three Rings parabola, which describes a man who is about to die and has to make a difficult choice: who among his three sons will get the ring inherited from a long family tradition. In order not to have to make this choice, the father decides to have three rings made out of the first, a proof of his love for his sons. “If it is not given to mankind to theoretically know which religion is the true one, everyone has the practical possibility, by his selfless actions toward others, to prove the value of his faith and his aptitude to contribute to the happiness of humanity.” The sound material used in the work represents the typical sonorities of the three monotheist religions: the shofar of Judaism, the church bells of Christianity and the call for prayer of Islam. To these sounds, I have added the treated voices of two actors, Gregory Hlady and Évelyne Rompré, used in the music of the play Antigone by Sophocles (staged by Brigitte Haentjens at the Théâtre du Trident, Quebec City, in 2002). December 2004 [v-06] Chorus was realized in 2002 at the composer’s studio and premiered on July 13, 2002 during the Festival de musiques sacrées (Fribourg, Switzerland). Chorus was commissioned by Réseaux with the financial support of the Canada Council for the Arts. Chorus was awarded the First Prize at the 2002 Fribourg International Sacred Music Competition (Switzerland). Chorus was also selected by the 2nd Métamorphoses Biennial Acousmatic Composition Competition (Brussels, Belgium) in 2002 and was recorded in 2003 on the CD Métamorphoses 2002, M&R (MR 2002). electrocd.com [va]: Métamorphoses 2002: track detail |
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