On the Edge
ISMN : 979-0-2325-7870-5
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"On the Edge," for six soloists, choir, and electronics, touches the boundaries between virtual and real spaces, between imagined and embodied voices, and between reality and mental illness. The audience is guided through a sonic journey, inspired by stories of women bound to live at the edge of society. This journey begins with lullabies from European countries, collected during workshops organised by HowNow, with women living in shelters in the Parisian area, who are fighting their way back to a more stable life. During these meetings, it became clear that, due to the traumatic nature of their experiences, some stories were unable to be told, and it was not for me to tell them but, rather, to connect with them on a deeper level.
Our journey questions the perception of reality, where virtual and embodied voices contain within themselves a multitude of forms, spaces, and faces, like a perpetually shifting polyhedron. Some of Mina Loy's early poems, shaped by her unconventional and nomadic life, anticipate her later fascination with fringe figures of society. To Mina Loy, they are individuals who sidestep the existential search for meaning, in the hope to glimpse some sort of revelation from their various quests—a revelation that fails to arrive.
On the Edge was composed after–and thanks to–a long-lasting exchange with the SWR Vokalensemble and their conductor Yuval Wajnberg and its spatialisation rests on the extensive expertise of the SWR Experimentalstudio in this domain. This work reflects the common wish to explore unconventional concert forms, to bring some indeterminate elements into play, and to engage the public on a different level of perception.
The continuous collaboration with all parties involved—the technical teams, singers, artistic director, conductor, managers—make this work the result of an incredible collective effort, alongside the Donaueschinger Musiktage.
Fixed electronics
Real-time electronics
Choir
Voices (6)
Pages - 86
