Works » By Title » A » A Walk Through the City (16:00 / 1981)

This piece is first in a series of compositions about the city as it exists in North America. The listener is lead into a specific part of the city. Future pieces will explore other parts of the city and other aspects of urban living. City sounds are used both naturally and treated, creating a sound flux between real and imaginary city soundscapes, between acoustic reality and composition—making audible what we frequently experience in daily life but often are not conscious of: perceptual shifts between acoustic reality and our own acoustic imagination. At no time will the listener lose sight of the city as sound source, as original acoustic experience. Norbert Ruebsaat's poem appears throughout the composition, symbolizing the human presence in the urban soundscape, giving a human perspective to the acoustic drama of a city. The poem is spoken throughout and interacts with or stands in contrast to other human voices that are appearing as part of the urban acoustic environment. The composition was realized at the Sonic Research Studio at Simon Fraser University and in the final stages at the CBC studios in Vancouver with the technical assistance of Gary Heald. “A Walk Through the City” was commissioned by “Two New Hours” CBC Stereo. HW