13/09/2013

h.21 Auditorium San Fedele

Uniting to Heaven, for an ensemble of 14 musicians and live electronics

Aurélien Dumont
Abîme apogée (2013)
Price San Fedele
Instrumentation : 14 musicians and electronic.

Duration : about 16 minutes
Premiered in 2013, september 13th at auditorium San Fedele in Milan.

Ensemble Klangforum Wien/IRCAM/Ensemble Vocal AEDES

Abîme apogée has been written for a set of fourteen musicians with electronics and a virtual choir. It takes inspiration from both Chinese cosmology and the figure of Hildegard of Bingen. The work forms part of continuing research into the heterogeneity of materials, as found in the dialogue between an electronic harmonic, intimately derived from the voice, and instrumental writing which is violent and eroded. By questioning the relationship between fixed materials and continuous movement, the piece tries to achieve balance in perpetual motion, like the unification of elements in Chinese cosmology,Taijitu.The text for the women’s choir, written by Dominique Quélen, is based on a symbolism close to the writings of Hildegard of Bingen in order to represent a double movement of elevation and decline. The voice is made omnipresent because the electronic device focuses on developing hybrid musical objects from signal descriptors found in vocal responses. Clarinet, trombone and violin are also affected by the device, which simulates the creation of more instruments, or meta-instruments, essentially making Abîme apogée a journey that leaves more and more space to the electronic, developing dream-like soundscapes.