Paralysis

by Olli Moilanen

for 3 to 4 players and tape

Description

Paralysis is a composition about pressure, urge and resistance. It is a process of translation, highly dependent on the performers and their interrelationships.

The material of the composition is based on my own voice improvisations that I recorded very close with a mic that could catch tiny microsounds that are otherwise inaudible. The music undulates between inhalation and exhalation that encounter severe resistance from the body and mind.

Instead of a written score, the performers learn the piece by ear using an audioscore: an electronic track (of my manipulated voice) that they listen to from their headphones, and mimic with their instruments. In the rehearsal process the players create a collective interpretation of the audioscore.

In the performance the performers listen to the audioscore from their headphones, and the amplified sound of the instruments comes from speakers in front of the audience. A tape part plays at the same time from speakers at the back of the audience. This tape part is an electronically manipulated version of the audioscore, creating a counterpoint to the audioscore. Thus the audience sits at a border area where these electronic and instrumental translations of my voice meet and complement each other.

Instrumentation

3-4instrs, tape

Category

Chamber Works

Premiere

defunensembe, 30.3.2022, Helsinki

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Archive number

MF35913

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