extended lullabies
extended lullabies (2012), five pocket sound pieces.
inspired by the sound sculpture by john cage. written in 2012 for the multimedia event on the occasion of the centenary of the composer's birth john cage's imaginary landscapes, curated by nada kolundžija and ivana miladinović prica.
"One of Cage’s last works, Extended Lullaby (1992), was executed posthumously in 1994 as a musical sculpture of acrylic, spruce brass, and twelve 36-note Reuge music box mechanisms mounted adjacent to each other. The encircling acrylic tunnel serves as a modest resonating chamber. The dimensions of the piece are 17.8 x 182.9 x 12.7 cm. The melody heard on the music boxes is a re-working of the cantus firmus and counterpoint of Erik Satie’s Vexations. Hence its chromatic, modal nature. Activated at random intervals the twelve unsynchronized music boxes, playing at different speeds, make for a delightful chaos that dissipates as the mechanisms peter out."
Text from program note for Margaret Leng Tan performance - Cage... Conceptualizing Cage now.
inspired by the sound sculpture by john cage. written in 2012 for the multimedia event on the occasion of the centenary of the composer's birth john cage's imaginary landscapes, curated by nada kolundžija and ivana miladinović prica.
"One of Cage’s last works, Extended Lullaby (1992), was executed posthumously in 1994 as a musical sculpture of acrylic, spruce brass, and twelve 36-note Reuge music box mechanisms mounted adjacent to each other. The encircling acrylic tunnel serves as a modest resonating chamber. The dimensions of the piece are 17.8 x 182.9 x 12.7 cm. The melody heard on the music boxes is a re-working of the cantus firmus and counterpoint of Erik Satie’s Vexations. Hence its chromatic, modal nature. Activated at random intervals the twelve unsynchronized music boxes, playing at different speeds, make for a delightful chaos that dissipates as the mechanisms peter out."
Text from program note for Margaret Leng Tan performance - Cage... Conceptualizing Cage now.
pocket mechanical music boxes that are the only used source of sound, were chosen after a very literal interpretation of cage’s piece. after an improvised performance, the recorded sound materials were subjected to simple compositional procedures, treated as found sound objects. unlike cage’s boxes, each one here sounds a different tune. the only melody somewhat recognizable after the cut&paste process is wiegenlied by brahms.
above: David Tudor and John Cage ( Head in Bell ) Experimenting with New Sound Effects in Japan - 1962. photo courtesy of Pinterest community
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extended lullabies (2012), pet džepnih zvučnih komada, inspirisani su zvučnom skulpturom džona kejdža Extended Lullaby (1992/1994), narpavljenom prema kompozitorovim uputstvima nakon njegove smrti. dvanaest muzičkih kutija postavljeno je u jednom redu u providnu akrilnu cev, koja služi kao (slabi) rezonator. mehanizmi kutija, na kojima su kantus firmus i kontrapunkt satijevih Vexations, počinju od nasumično odabranih intervala i okreću se različitim brzinama, u tihom i koherentnom haosu.
džepne mehaničke muzičke kutije koje su jedini korišćeni izvor zvuka, odabrane su na osnovu sasvim bukvalnog tumačenja kejdžovog rada. izvođenje na njima je improvizovano, a neprečišćeni snimljeni materijali tretirani su u jednostavnom kompozicionom postpuku kao pronađeni zvučni objekti. za razliku od kejdžovih kutija, na svakoj od mojih izvodi se različita numera. melodija bramsove Wiegenlied jedina je koja je i nakon cut&paste procesa ostala prisutna i donekle prepoznatljiva u svakom od pet komada.
below: JOHN CAGE, Extended Lullaby, 1994, acrylic, spruce, brass, twelve 36-note reuge music box mechanisms, AP 2/2, 7 x 72 x 5 inches.
photo courtesy of www.solwaygallery.com
photo courtesy of www.solwaygallery.com
