Beauty Cage

Is it possible to find beauty in a cage? Some of my thoughts on this issue found their way into Beauty Cage, a piece for spatialized ensemble (fl, cl, vn, vc) and electronics (fixed media and live processing). As a starting point, I chose precise boundaries in the timbral dimension, which features two winds, two strings and a compact modular synth I used to record all the audio for the electronic part. My working process was somehow aware of the experience of Scelsi and Vieri Tosatti, as I was improvising, editing, transcribing and instrumentating. At one moment, I intercepted and promptly distorted a cheerful radio song. The clash between this lighthearted song and its grotesque processing seemed to be a perfect representation of the current situation. Even if the song was discarded early on, Beauty Cage took shape as an exploration of the contrasting connotations elicited by sound. Different kinds of audio feedback (the epitome of closed systems) are used, be it sweet ghost-like reverbs always on the verge of exploding, or razor-like tuned pitches detected by an electromagnetic pickup. The acoustic instruments bring organic variability to all spatialized sounds, playing a counterpoint of lines, timbres and movements which are allowed a certain amount of liberty.