Acoustic (Inter) Face to a monument
Total duration: around 6 hours, during two days.
I conceived this work for my classes of Chamber Music at the Lisbon National Conservatory School of Music, as a mega-score that includes: the participation of the public in interaction with the visitors of the monument, the expressive sound of the building in a concert in an unconventional format, the creation of a multimedia work in the music/ architecture aspect. The composition included a previous acoustic study, carried out over weeks of visits and analysis of the building plans, made available to the composer by the Chairman of the monument. The Director of the Jerónimos Monastery, Dr. Isabel Cruz Almeida, believing in the project, presented it to apply for funding, on the European Heritage Days 2005, 24 and 25 September. After winning the contest, the Institute of Historical and Artistic Heritage made the financial resources available and Alfasom, a company that provided the same services to Centro Cultural de Belem, technically sounded the work. The work, and his victory as a project, caused the visit of Mr. Secretary of State for Culture, Mário de Vieira Carvalho at the monument, watching the presentation and encouraging the interpreters in direct speech to those present. This is a valid work and therefore remains in my files, ready to revive.
Notes about the performance:
The score includes all technical and human resources and forms of coordination.
In addition to improvised passages and other pre-composed by Eli Jr., excerpts from Girolamo Frescobaldi, Heinrich Schütz, Heitor Villa-Lobos, Ian Freidlin, Michel Pritchards, Chauson and Fukushima were remixed.
Its total structure is:
I.
Previous study: make the description of the sound spots and their building’s placement. It has the plans of the monument, according to its structure in 2005, and describes the strategies for the desired sound and the necessary technical means.
II.
Proposal: the building reveals its structure beyond the visual impression: the sound of musical instruments is as an extension of the person in the exploration of a space, activating responses of resonances, echoes and polyphonies. The executions of these sound values come from different interactions, discriminated in the score.
III.
Program: describes the musician’s interventions, the synchronisation forms, the repertoire and the cycles that create the flow of about 2 hours of music and sound interventions.
Eli Camargo Jr.
Date 2005/Sep
Performer(s)
Ana Mendes (flute); José Conde (clarinet); Angela Ribeiro (clarinet); Pedro Parreira (clarinet); Ana Rita Pratas (clarinet); André Conde (trombone); José Pedro Leitão (double bass); Ricardo Tapadinhas (double bass); António Pedro Segundo e Sofia Ribeiro Borges(percussion); André Santos (guitar)
Organization/Event European Day of Historical Heritage
Venue Jerónimos Monastery
Town Lisbon
Country Portugal
