TRADUCTIONS
composition for synthesizers ensemble and augmented live art performance 2023
Picture - David Piazza
Stills from the performance documentation, CIRMMT - MMR (Multimedia Room)
scoreTRADUCTIONS (Translations) reflects polysemy, the capacity for a word or concept to carry multiple related meanings. The piece unfolds as a search for understanding and communication across different systems of language.
A sentence encoded in Morse code structures the composition. Each chapter translates one word of this hidden message through different forms: graphic scores for synthesizers and video, live electronic performance, and a parallel visual action. While the ensemble performs on stage, the performer appears in a separate room, filmed by multiple cameras and performing the chapters in real time in synchrony with the music.
Moving between Morse code, notation, sound, gesture, and image, the work traces a chain of translations between different modes of expression, where meaning continuously shifts from one form to another. Between universal systems and personal interpretations, it reflects on the fragile space where meaning is negotiated, translated and sometimes lost.
Commissioned by Ensemble d'OscillateursDirection - Nicolas BernierComposition and live performance - Gabriela HébertSynthesizers - Clo Rivest, Émile Gingras-Therrien, Nicolas Bourgeois, Nicolas Drouin, Jacob Desjardins, Jose Luis Garcia Gonzalez, Jose-Gabriel Bazan Gauthier, Loïc Minty, Samuel Gendron, Théophile Gagnard
Video operation - Gabriel.le Caux