Canadian Electroacoustic Community
GM-500 — 1455, boulevard De Maisonneuve Ouest, Montréal, QC, H3G 1M8, Canada
http://cec.sonus.ca - cec@sonus.ca
[traduction française non disponible]
In January 1987 I recorded Sabine Dirke, Beatrice Philbert, Martha Taylor and Livia Tenzer narrating each a section of a different version of the Medea story, in four languages: Greek, Latin, French and German. The excerpts are taken from plays by Euripides, Seneca, Jean Anouilh and Heiner Müller. In addition to plain and dramatic recitations, we also recorded some variations such as having them whisper the text, or sing it on certain pre-specified pitches. The recordings were processed and combined with some computer-generated sounds. These sounds were designed to create a new dimension of tension between the artificial sounds and the concrete sounds. In a sense, I was trying to juxtapose the Greek myth, the ultimate personal tragedy, with the Judeo-Christian symbolism of child-sacrifice as the ultimate religious commitment, as in the stories of Isaac and Jesus. “Medea” was composed between September 1986 and March 1987. It is dedicated to the memory of killed children. AM
- Studio: CCRMA, Stanford University (Stanford, CA, USA)
- Récompenses: Finalist, 1987 Prix Ars Electronica (Austria); Finalist, 1988 Luigi Russolo Competition (Italy).