A soundtrack for an animation about lesbians in space.
Animation by Jan Berende, student at St. Joost school of Art & Design, Breda.
Alea Iacta Est
Alea Iacta Est is a piece for soprano saxophone, live electronics, soundtrack and six dice and is written for Iván Sánchez Iglesias.
A long time ago, Julius Caesar and his army crossed the Rubicon, a small and insignificant brook located in Italy. He was a general and governor of the Roman province of Cisalpine Gaul. The river marked the boundary between the province and Italy, which was controlled directly by Rome and the Senate. Entering Italy as acting general was illegal and would be a capital offence. Stating iacta est alea (the die is cast), Caesar crossed nevertheless. This lead to a civil war and eventually to Caesar becoming dictator for life. The Republic as it existed for 500 years would be no more.
Recently, something similar happened in the USA, when president Donald Trump verbally invoked a storming on the Capital, housing the Congress and Senate. Path dependency theorizes that once certain paths have been taken, it’s hard to change direction. What will this means for the future of the only 250 years old United States of America?
Both stories are connected in a compelling narrative in the soundtrack, but that’s not all: the live performer deals with exactly the same problem: he throws six dice, one for each of the six performance sections. The dice decide how he should improvize in each section. However, his improvisations are recorded and played back in each consecutive section. There is no way back after throwing each dice and playing each section. Given these circumstances, the performer’s job is to meaningful interact with the pre-recorded improvisation, whilst simultaneously determining the future of his performance.
Hibernation
Hibernation is a work consisting of film, soundtrack and live piano. I created the work as part of the course Multimedia and Compositon, taught by Dutch composer Celia Swart.
In autumn 2021, someone told me about the amazing view from the top floor of the highest building of Tilburg University (called Koopmans), which looks over the Oude Warande, a local forest. I went to check it out immediately, was mesmerized by the autumnal colours and decided to go there again and capture the sights and sounds with a video camera and a tape recorder. Until six months later, I didn’t really know how to process all data into something I liked. Then, suddenly, I knew what to do and how I wanted it. Thus, Hibernation came into existence.
The film and soundtrack are fixed, but the live piano consists of parts sections which need to be synchronized with the film and sections which are essentially guided improvisations. The recording below features one possible execution of the piano part, but there are many ways to realize it. In an actual performance or exhibition, it’s preferred that the performer is visible. In addition, the work is also cyclical, so could be performed multiple times after each other, or even endlessly.
And Then I Saw
For electronics (speakers).
An ambient composition inspired on Ogata Gekkou’s woodblock print ”Mount Fuji Reflected in a Waterfall” using Ableton Live.
Be sure to listen with ear or headphones!
Enjoy listening to And Then I Saw!
Maurick Reuser, 16 November 2021.