Whispering Spaces

A musical performance has many underlying dimensions. Some result from physical phenomena, such as resonance, connected to the environment, the acoustic, the audience. Others deal with communication, gestures and signs, natural links between the performers and the audience, and between the performers themselves. These phenomena, gestures, respiration, breathings, resonances, additional noises, are a full part of the performance, and, consequently, of a musical work. They interact at various levels - physical, empathic, visuals. They can act as mutual links, as a way of communication, as signals; they can be controlled; they can escape any control.

In many recordings, the voices of the performers are audible. Their breathings, used consciously or not, represent in my view a full part of the performance. The resonance, depending on several factors such as instruments, materials, places, contributes in a large proportion to the perception of the listener. Various instrumental or extra-instrumental gestures contribute to a general and visual perception.

A composer has the possibility to partially control these different levels; a composer has the possibility to notate and include these through his medium of communication, the score. A composer has the possibility to create a musical poetics and aesthetics including these phenomena. A composer has the possibility to create a musical language based on them.  By doing so, the composer also raises several questions concerning the origin of the sound, its sources or what precedes it, but also what characterizes it and what follows it.

Whispering Spaces addresses these different aspects, exploring the multiple technical and instrumental possibilities that may recreate a pathway through air, sound, gesture and resonance…