Machaut-Architekturen

Dust is a good illustration of Rebecca Saunder’s work for two reasons: first, due to her interest in the writings of Samuel Beckett, viewed from a compositional standpoint (the piece is based on two quotes, one from The Unnamable and the other from That time by Beckett); and second, due to her minute analysis of sounds. Dust is a “film” that is deposited on objects, and it is from this perspective–from this “wordless thing in any empty space”–that she urges us to listen. José María Sánchez-Verdú is a composer with a fascination for cultural, spatial, artistic and temporal mixes. In Machaut-Architektur (Machaut-Architecture), he takes Guillaume de Machaut’s Messe de Nostre Dame (Mass of Our Lady) as his starting point, using some of its features in more contemporary style; for instance, “columns of sound” generated by the instruments (as opposed to the former custom of vocal columns) or rhythmic repetitions (talea) used as structural aids. Both pieces will enter into dialogue with the two premiered works: Montserrat Lladó’s music, characterised by deep–often gloomy–layers of textural sound, and José Mora’s concise work, reflecting his own personal imaginative approach to composition.