Sonic Lab Concert 2

Concert Programme

Pete Stollery: Rewind looks back over a 40-year association with the studios at the University of Birmingham, both as undergraduate/postgraduate student in the early days of BEAST through to undergraduate/postgraduate external examiner. A lot has changed, and some of it can be heard in this piece, including sounds/extracts of pieces made in the studios during this time. Thanks for sounds to: Anonymous, Jonty Harrison, Jo Hyde, Andy Lewis, Adrian Moore, Alistair MacDonald, Nick Virgo, Rachel Williams.

Jonty Harrison: Petit prélude parallèle (2018) 8’40– à la mémoire de Claude Achille Debussy (1862-1918) – ‘If modern music may be said to have had a definite beginning, then it started with … the Prélude à ‘L’après-midi d’un faune’ by Claude Debussy (1862-1918)’ -Paul Griffiths. Composed for the centenary of his death, Petit prélude parallèle follows the melodic, harmonic and dynamic contours of Debussy’s landmark work – and includes sonic references to Mallarmé’s evocation of the drowsy, heat-laden Sicilian afternoon in which the Faun remembers (or imagines) his erotic encounter.

Robert Normandeau: L’engloutissement (The Engulfment) (2013-19) (16’24) – To Trudy Crane – The story of Francisco Goldman’s book Say Her Name, sent me back to a personal event in the summer of 2012 when, although an excellent swimmer, I almost drowned. The engulfment relates to how I felt in the water, much like a prisoner where, on three occasions, I managed to rise to the surface, only to then descend to the bottom, stuck in a structure that was too heavy. It’s an experience I never had and which, curiously, was free from the fear that one can imagine in such circumstances. I finally managed to get out of it safe and sound, with an intense migraine.

Theodoros Lotis: Portrait of a Lady in Protest March (8 channels) is a sonic portrait of a woman in red caught in the midst of a protest march. The work was commissioned by Musiques et Recherches and premiered at the Festival Espace du Son 2014. Many thanks to Esther Lamneck, Andreas Mniestris and Giorgos Stavridis for the clarinet, saxophone and percussion samples and to Terry Vakirtzoglou, Giorgos Mizithras and Olga Vassiou for their voices. The piece was finalist at the Metamorphoses 2016 competition in Brussels.

Pierre Alexandre Tremblay: Bucolic & Broken – This is an ode to the fragile beauty of post-industrial rural England: crumbling yet still holding together by some strange magic. It is a sonic commentary on my home, the North: a divided kingdom. It is an anxious love song contemplating the area’s bucolic beauty, intermingled with mementos of a more prosperous era… It is also an affectionate nod to its people, where a cup of tea seems to put everything into perspective. Anywhere else, such a division would create chaos. Here, everyone is taking a deep breath, pausing to observe the waters, before taking the plunge.