Work Overview
Migrations is a work for electronics (tape, four channels), string quintet, piccolo, and four flutes. The work explores movement, transience, unrest, and the unfamiliar: commonplace sounds become disconnected from their sources and drift in patterns of migration within the performance space. Field recordings-which document various journeys in the Paris metropolitan rapid transit system-have been assembled into a lyrical montage, paying homage to Pierre Schaffer's work in musique concrète and acousmatic listening.
The fluidity of live performance and the stasis of taped audio constitute one of many dualities presented by 'Migrations'. The instrumental writing-the gesture of which reflects that of the audio-is often organised in pairs, as are the two sets of stereo speakers. Two sine tone drones surface ominously and gradually from the depths of the human hearing range throughout the work.
Migrations offers the listener space to reflect on one of the defining elements of the contemporary zeitgeist: displacement, and its effect on the human condition. In a world where the global has, in many ways, become the local, what does it mean to feel at home?
Work Details
Year: 2019
Instrumentation: Conductor, piccolo, 4 flutes, 2 violins, viola, cello, double bass (C extension), electronics.
Duration: 10 min.
Difficulty: Advanced
Commission note: This work was commissioned by Izaak Wesson on behalf of the Perth Orchestra Project.
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