Gerardo De Pasquale
del dolore e altre passioni, lamento I
for soprano and electronics
work selected by NYCEMF Committee
Eleonora Claps, soprano
american premiere
NYCEMF – New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival Abrons Art Center, Playhouse, 466 Grand Street, Manhattan NYC. Wednesday, July 18, 2018, 8 PM
Lament I, from the cycle of compositions About pain and other passions, inspired by a recording belonging to the sound collection of the first Lucan ethnographic expedition, made by Ernesto de Martino in 1952 on the traces of the ancient, Mediterranean and pre-Christian crying. The recording, made in Ferrandina – Matera province, is a funeral lamentation performed by a young peasant woman from the area who accepted to “interpret” it only after exhausting negotiations. The most disconcerting datum that this document gives us, in addition to the inexpressible and boundless love for her brother, is the tremendous beauty transpiring of pure modesty that every time stops the lament before it rises to complete song; thus the piece that constantly builds a phōnē, an intimate and suspended dialogue of osmotic fusion between the electronic and the soprano’s timbre. It is a continuous consummation and stretch at the most a genesis of sound when the tension of expectation is unexpectedly beaten and torn of inescapable.
The New York City Electroacoustic Music Festival (NYCEMF) is the largest showcase of electroacoustic music in New York City, and one of the largest festivals of its kind in the world. The festival began in 2009 with the intention of bringing the most innovative and creative new electroacoustic music from around the world to New York City. Works are presented in high-quality multi-channel surround sound environments that include up to eight different simultaneous sound channels, and sometimes many more. The festival includes music performed by acoustic musical instruments, laptops, and custom electronic devices, as well as works involving digital video, and sound installations.
