Bahar Royaee / Michael Pisaro-Liu / Jaeduk Kim

Tombstone is about Death as a child, who runs away from itself. It tries to deconstruct that noise with the viola’s familiar-unfamiliar timbres, and reconstruct the horizon with repetition, embracement of the body and deployment of errors. Tombstone is made economical by its materials. In each movement, the piece develops specific timbres through repetition. The repetitions are in gestures. Repetition of accents in all three movements are there to rebuild. The repetition is not there to repeat, but to morph and re-shape. The gesture repeats to awake the visceral sounds of the body. The instrument’s body. There is death; running away in the horizon, in the vibration, in the space; running away from itself (the known-unknown).

Bahar Royaee

mind is moving (V) for solo viola was written over several months between 1995 and 1996. It is part of a series of nine pieces, the first five of which (including this one) were written to explore the natural harmonics of the open strings of the standard string instruments. A natural harmonic is a very particular sound—it (more or less) isolates one component amongst many in the tone of the open string. Its sound is half-present/ half-absent. As such a natural harmonic has a poignant fragility. In performance it reveals subtleties of the instrument and of the performer’s manner of playing. The sounds played vary in duration, but there is a constant 40 seconds of silence between each viola sound. The silence between the sounds has a distinct character influenced what the quietness of the sound the performer makes.

Michael Pisaro-Liu

Embarking on a bold exploration of the solo viola’s sonic possibilities, my project, titled Microcosmic Space – Unveiling Hidden Soundscapes aims to transcend conventional boundaries by delving into the microscopic intricacies of its expressive potential. By using contact microphones and advanced sound analysis software like Sonic Visualiser and Partiels, the project examines every detail of the instrument’s sound. The goal is to capture the subtle hidden sounds, which can only be heard through careful listening, offering a new experience for both performer and audience.

Jaeduk Kim