You are my reflection.
Commissioned by L’Association Eubage for the ‘Science Fiction Lieder Project’, which toured in Swizterland, Norway and the UK.
This work was written in collaboration with Lydia White.
Premiere: Céline Wasmer (Sop.), Lucas Buclin (Pf.) François Girard Garcia (Vln.), Noémie Bialobroda (Vla.), Hilde Skomedal (Vc.) @ Maison d’Ailleurs, Yverdon, Switzerland (2015).
Centre Dürrenmatt, Neuchâtel
About:
The piece revolves around a central A.I. character exploring the idea of song. The text was devised with reference to online ‘chat-bots’ which attempt to mimic human conversation. (Meet A.L.I.C.E. here!).
Common tropes - the rose, the dream song, the nocturne, etc. - are explored with reference to songs by Schubert, Brahms and Schumann. Strange quirks and musical ‘syntax errors’ cause these familiar materials to behave in unusual ways.
Two other composers collaborated on the project: Kevin Juillerat and Øyvind Maeland.
Listen:
Dürrenmatt, L’ascension Noire
The project was featured on Canal Alpha and RADIO SRF 2 KULTUR.
We were invited to undertake a mini-residency at the Centre Dürrenmatt (pictured, above), a beautiful and inspiring performance setting. Alongside our new song cycles, we each created a partly-improvised score reacting to one of Dürenmatt’s paintings in the collection.
I chose L’ascension noire (left).
Watch:
