NEW SOUNDS ARE FOLLOWING ME
Every now and again the unexpected turns into real discovery. That’s exciting. A few weeks ago I attended an Art Film Festival over a period of four days at the Louvre Auditorium. You can’t imagine how comfortable the theatre is and acoustically marvelous. I will only write very briefly about some of the films as one of them leads onto new discoveries.
The new Peter Greenway which opened the festival « Goltzius and the Pelican Company » is excellent for costumes, text but from my point of view is verging on pornography. I am anything but a prude but there were some scenes which went overboard. Then an interesting film called « 16 acres » directed by Richard Hankin on the reconstruction of Ground Zero. Corruption is rampant and the final tower took many more years than was planned. Onto now a film on Gaudi and the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. I visited that with my Mother just after Franco’s death. There was not a soul around. Today it is a thriving tourist attraction. 125 years have past since the construction began and it will undoubtedly take that again to finish. What is appalling, the Spanish Government signed a contract with the French that the new TGV fast train’s tunnel would be built directly under the foundation of the cathedral which means that sooner or later it could collapse. Naturally the Catalans were dead against this - but………a film with Giuseppe Penone the Italian sculptor who works with trees….yes I said with, as each tree has it’s own voice and by banging different positions on the trunk different sounds can be recorded electronically. We heard many voices which were told us how old the tree is…..etc. Quite amazing and a sound I have never heard before even if I was a keen follower of contemporary electronic music for some years. That era is behind me.
However what wound me up for more was a documentary on « KODO, au coeur des tambours de Japon » by Don Kent and Christian Dumain-Lvowski. (KODO - in the heart of drums in Japan) The documentary was on the training of these young people who hope to dedicate their lives to taiko, the generic name for drum. For two years they live on the island of Sado which is in the sea of Japan where originally they created their own village and training centre. They live in harmony with nature and it’s a rigorous life. Apart from the training in drums, dance, music and acting, they do their own cooking and all household chores. In the documentary we saw two women. But what was even nicer, two of the young students in the film were actually in the performance I saw at the Chatelet last night. I’m hoping that this link will work as the couple of videos are well worthwhile seeing.
http://chatelet-theatre.com/2013-2014/kodo-legend-enhttp://chatelet-theatre.com/2013-2014/kodo-legend-en
To finish with the training though, no internet, T.V., telephone are permitted. And there is a very short holiday of 5 days before final selection. After the documentary finished a silence reigned in the auditorium. The sound of drums still ringing in our ears. I remembered and only then that I had a ticket to see them perform a few weeks later. Many people whispered that they were not too sure if it would be possible to listen to such a sound for two hours. I was a little apprehensive too. I needn’t have been. Watching the performers beat their drums is extraordinary. There are moments you don’t even see the sticks - the hands and arms go so fast. The discipline is amazing. Arms are raised in the air in unison and crash onto the drums or other instruments with other sounds. Controlled movement, voices, sounds of all kinds which crept into your body and made it tremble. KODO is philosophical and I think that to become a musician/dancer/actor…..there must be a lot to be learned apart from banging on drums.
The Sunday before I was out at the Cité de la Musique to hear amongst other pieces, Wolfgang Rihm Tutuguri for six percussionists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Enk5eTw9SE -
I hope it works.
Conservatorial students were under the direction of the main percussionist who once worked with the Pierre Boulez Ensemble Contemporain….It was fascinating to see a musician I have followed for over 20 years in the role of a conductor. Once again, harmony, sounds were like something I have never heard before. This time it was only 30 minutes. Originally Tutuguri was for a full orchestra and singers but the shorter versions has been created for the six percussionists. It was an interesting lead into KODO which I saw a week later. Exciting discoveries which I cannot say for the exhibitions on at the moment.
However what wound me up for more was a documentary on « KODO, au coeur des tambours de Japon » by Don Kent and Christian Dumain-Lvowski. (KODO - in the heart of drums in Japan) The documentary was on the training of these young people who hope to dedicate their lives to taiko, the generic name for drum. For two years they live on the island of Sado which is in the sea of Japan where originally they created their own village and training centre. They live in harmony with nature and it’s a rigorous life. Apart from the training in drums, dance, music and acting, they do their own cooking and all household chores. In the documentary we saw two women. But what was even nicer, two of the young students in the film were actually in the performance I saw at the Chatelet last night. I’m hoping that this link will work as the couple of videos are well worthwhile seeing.
http://chatelet-theatre.com/2013-2014/kodo-legend-enhttp://chatelet-theatre.com/2013-2014/kodo-legend-en
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To finish with the training though, no internet, T.V., telephone are permitted. And there is a very short holiday of 5 days before final selection. After the documentary finished a silence reigned in the auditorium. The sound of drums still ringing in our ears. I remembered and only then that I had a ticket to see them perform a few weeks later. Many people whispered that they were not too sure if it would be possible to listen to such a sound for two hours. I was a little apprehensive too. I needn’t have been. Watching the performers beat their drums is extraordinary. There are moments you don’t even see the sticks - the hands and arms go so fast. The discipline is amazing. Arms are raised in the air in unison and crash onto the drums or other instruments with other sounds. Controlled movement, voices, sounds of all kinds which crept into your body and made it tremble. KODO is philosophical and I think that to become a musician/dancer/actor…..there must be a lot to be learned apart from banging on drums.
The Sunday before I was out at the Cité de la Musique to hear amongst other pieces, Wolfgang Rihm Tutuguri for six percussionists.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Enk5eTw9SE -
I hope it works.
Conservatorial students were under the direction of the main percussionist who once worked with the Pierre Boulez Ensemble Contemporain….It was fascinating to see a musician I have followed for over 20 years in the role of a conductor. Once again, harmony, sounds were like something I have never heard before. This time it was only 30 minutes. Originally Tutuguri was for a full orchestra and singers but the shorter versions has been created for the six percussionists. It was an interesting lead into KODO which I saw a week later. Exciting discoveries which I cannot say for the exhibitions on at the moment.
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