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Wanderlust
Version 3 2021-03-18, 04:03
Version 2 2020-10-20, 02:39
Version 1 2019-09-13, 04:15
composition
posted on 2021-03-18, 04:03 authored by Cat HopeCat Hope'Wanderlust' is a composition for or one or two instruments, and self made field recording of walking.
This work is named after a book of the same name by American author Rebecca Solnit published in 2000. The book is in someways a requiem to walking, where our lack of walking contributes to an erasure of a sense of the journey, and the result of the “anxiety to produce” that characterises contemporary life. This piece deliberately meanders; the walk sets the pace you take, the fixed media part is created by the performer to personalise each ‘journey’ of the piece, and the work aims to ecnourage the performer to play with and into their walks.
Instructions on reading the score
The score is proportional – the pitch being read on the vertical axis. A reference line is provided so the performer may reference a central pitch. Only glissandi should be used, except in the pizzicato sections. Shading indicates dynamic. The loudest dynamic is medium soft, the lowest is extremely soft. Width indicates complexity of sound. For the duo, each part has a different colour.
Commissioned by Sylvia Hinz, 2018.
This work needs the performer to complete the composition by adding a field recording they have made of the walk to the performance venue to the score. The length of the recording sets the length of the peice, so you may decide to only walk part of the way.
Once you have completed your recording, you should add it into a the Decibel 'ScoreCreator' desktop software application (downloadable above or from Decibelnewmusic.com ) to combine the score image and your recording, and set the length of the piece to the length of your walk. The application will create a file (with the.ds extension) that you will need to AirDrop to an iPad, with the Decibel ScorePlayer application (downloadable from the App store) on it, to present the score in performance.
The score will also also playback the audio via the iPad speaker, which you can connect to a speaker through the headphone jack. You can also read the score as a video (downloadable above), and add your recording to that.
PROGRAM NOTE
This work is named after a book of the same name by American author Rebecca Solnit published in 2000. The book is in someways a requiem to walking, where our lack of walking contributes to an erasure of a sense of the journey, and the result of the “anxiety to produce” that characterises contemporary life. This piece deliberately meanders; the walk sets the pace you take, the fixed media part is created by the performer to personalise each ‘journey’ of the piece, and the work aims to ecnourage the performer to play with and into their walks.
Instructions on reading the score
The score is proportional – the pitch being read on the vertical axis. A reference line is provided so the performer may reference a central pitch. Only glissandi should be used, except in the pizzicato sections. Shading indicates dynamic. The loudest dynamic is medium soft, the lowest is extremely soft. Width indicates complexity of sound. For the duo, each part has a different colour.
PERFORMANCES
PREMIERE :Sylvia Hinz (bass recorder) 24 November, 2018 at Kunstbunker, Berlin, Germany. Performed again February 2021,
2. Duo version premiered on 4th August 2019 by Clocked Out (piano and percussion) at Harrigans Lane Collective, NSW, Australia
3. Cat Hope (bass flute) and Aaron Wyatt (viola), Monash University, Main Auditorium, 2019.
4. Cat Hope (bass flute) and Louise Devenish (percussion), telematic version. Göteborg Art Sounds Festival, 17 October 2020
MATERIALS ABOVE
Past versions of the score are grouped together above with their walking recordings. You can download the score image (solo or duo), the application required to create the score is attached, a video for the score, as are past recordings. There are also performance videos below.
BLOG/RESEARCH STATEMENT
This is a scored work of music composition that investigates the relationship of the performer as static ‘interpreter’ as opposed to an active participant in society. Building on Rebecca Solnit’s investigation into the relationship of walking to culture and politics in the book of the same name published in 2000, the performer must make an audio recording of their own walk, that plays alongside the solo part. The result is a very personal journey, where the musician relates to the field recording as if it were another performer, as well as a structural design for the piece. Solnit notes that ‘to walk is to take a subversive detour' (p34), and this work is intended to subvert the structures that govern the relationship between performer, composer and their environments/locations.
The score is assembled into a ‘score file’ by combining the score created by Hope with the recording made by the performer, into a single SuperScore (Emmerson, 2002).
