Œuvres » Par titre » B » Basilica (12:00 / 1992)

[traduction française non disponible]

The work is based entirely on the bells of the Basilica in Quebec City as recorded by the World Soundscape Project at Simon Fraser University during a cross-country tour in 1973. The three bells are heard at their original pitch, as well as an octave lower and a twelfth higher, but all of these versions are stretched in time, often to twenty or more times their original duration. The extended versions allow the listener to hear out the inner harmonics inside the bells, and in moving inside the sound it seems as if we are entering the large volume of the church itself. The piece is an elaboration of a section of the composer’s work Dominion (1991), for chamber ensemble and two digital soundtracks, which is based on soundmarks from all across Canada.