Artificial Environments Nos. 1-5 (2011)

fl, cl, pf/kbd, vln, vlc, tape (21 minutes)
(alternative line-up: cl, perc, vln, vla, vlc, tape)

The work was commissioned by CESARE and L’instant Donné and premiered in December 2011 by L’instant Donné at Festival Reims Scènes d’Europe, France.

Artificial Environments Nos. 1 to 5 is actually the second completed set of pieces in a series of works that seeks to contextualize music and its processes through explanation. The explanation itself is fiction (even science fiction) and serves as an unreliable auditory programme note that is integrated into the sound world of the piece. Scratch the surface of this explanation a little though, and it becomes clear that the text is simply a metaphor for the compositional techniques that have been employed in making the music. On a broader level, but in a very small and modest way, the work is an attempt to introduce the outside world into the contemporary music concert hall. The recorded sounds in Artificial Environments Nos. 1 to 5 were captured in locations around Europe — the hills of Umbria, Copenhagen, Malmö, London and various places in central Brussels where I live. The recordings of the voice were made with the help of CESARE in Reims and De Pianofabriek kunstenwerkplaats in Brussels.

Performed by Ensemble Plus-Minus