Ligeia
(2016)
for invisible soprano, ensemble and surround sound
Inside a bunker: Josiah Boothby and Anna Niedźwiedź
Fort Worden, Washington - WWI era bunkers
Fort Worden, Washington - WWI era bunkers
Fort Worden, Washington - WWI era bunkers
Inside a bunker at Fort Worden
|
Recorded live on May 29, 2022 at Musica Polonica Nova festival, National Forum of Music in Wrocław. Chain Ensemble, Andrzej Bauer - conductor Recorded live on June 30, 2018, New York City, Ensemble Mise-En, Moon Young Ha - conductor Recorded live on April 9, 2016 in Seattle, Seattle Modern Orchestra, Julia Tai - conductor |
|
The title: The word “Ligeia” is the name of one of the Sirens in Greek mythology and is also the title of Edgar Allan Poe's short story "Ligeia" (1838).
Ligeia has two main components, the soundscapes in the surround sound electronic part, and the live performance that is a direct response to these soundscapes.The surround sound component was created and composed using the series of on-location recording sessions. All these sounds were recorded and processed in Ambisonics, which is a set of techniques for recording, processing and reproducing sound in full 3D. It can be compared to holographic techniques in the visual realm.
For this piece I first invited French horn player Josiah Boothby for a short recording session in which he improvised a limited number of musical gestures. This initial material was then passed to soprano Anna Niedźwiedź in Kraków, Poland. I asked Anna to try to sing the exact same gestures that Josiah improvised on his horn. We called those short phrases “seeds” as we intended to grow music like a plant.
In September 2015, while Anna was in Seattle, Josiah, Anna, and I went to Fort Worden, Washington to explore the acoustics of the WWI era bunkers and gun emplacements. I joined Josiah and Anna with my violin, forming a trio. However it was Anna’s creative energy that became the main driving force for these recording sessions.
These recordings were used to create a skeleton of the electronic part and later to sketch out the instrumental parts. I often think of that process as drawing contours on the top of the existing painting, and then later filling in new colors and shades. During the concert performance, the instrumental parts create a direct response to the pre-recorded soundscapes, bringing back the acoustic spaces visited during the recording sessions and co-existing together in the acoustic space of the concert hall.
- Ewa Trębacz
With special thanks to: Digital Arts and Experimental Media (DXARTS), University of Washington Mark Haslam, for his on-going support for my projects
|
Trio in the electronic layer - from the left: Ewa Trębacz, violin Josiah Boothby, French horn Anna Niedźwiedź, soprano
PREMIERE
April 09, 2016
Seattle Modern Orchestra Julia Tai, conductor Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Seattle
|
Performances and Events
| May 29, 2022 |
33rd Festival of Polish Contemporary Music Musica Polonica Nova National Forum of Music in Wrocław, Poland The Red Hall Chain Ensemble, Andrzej Bauer – conductor |
| Feb. 3, 2021 | Polskie Radio, Nowa Polska - "Smyczki na sterydach" program by Ewa Szczecińska (in Polish) |
| June 30, 2018 |
MISE-EN FESTIVAL 2018 New Music Marathon, Taipei Cultural Center, New York City Kelley Barnett, flute |
| May 14, 2016 |
Fixed media version: Center for Interesting Noises Ayala Science Library at the University of California, Irvine |
| April 9, 2016 |
Premiere: Musica Electronica, Chapel Performance Space at the Good Shepherd Center in Seattle Seattle Modern Orchestra, Julia Tai - conductor Jessie Polin, flute |