OCCAM OCEAN, by Éliane Radigue

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'OCCAM XIX' for 5 string double bass (2014)

'OCCAM XXVII' for bagpipes (2019)

Erwan Keravec – Bagpipes Louis-Michel Marion – Double bass
Duration: 60 min.
In dialogue with the work of Leonor Antunes, we are presenting instrumental works by French composer Éliane Radigue (b. 1932). A subtle but startling interaction is set in motion when the work of the two artists coexist in the same space.

Éliane Radigue, best known for her abstract and timeless electronic music, continues to inspire a new generation of artists.

The pieces presented in this programme were drawn from her vast ‘OCCAM OCEAN cycle of over 90 works, where each is based on a water related image and generates mesmerizing vibrations.

The idea for this body of work sprang from Radigue’s memory of a mural showing the broad spectrum of measurable electromagnetic waves, from the most minute to the most massive. Comparing them with the movement of water, whether the deepest ocean currents or the tiniest of sparkling wavelets, led her gradually from fluid waveforms into those of sonic vibration.

The concerts at CAM will feature renowned artists who originally collaborated with the composer, presenting familiar instruments as well as more unusual ones. This performance include pieces for five-string double bass and bagpipes.

Éliane Radigue (Paris, 1932) is renowned for her electronic music. Her compositions are defined by micro-events caused by subtle changes in harmonics that dance above a seemingly static tone. In 2005, Radigue began composing for acoustic instruments. First came Naldjorlak, her grand trio for two basset horns and cello, and then, the ever-expanding OCCAM OCEAN series. These new works have been presented in museums, concert halls and festivals, including Festival d'Automne (Paris), CTM.12 Spectral (Berlin), Sound and Music (London), Serralves (Porto), the Louvre and Centre Pompidou (Paris). She recently received the Grand Prize for her oeuvre from the SACEM, the Giga-Hertz Prize from the ZKM in Germany and the Open Oor composition prize in the Netherlands. Her complete electronic works were released in a box set by the GRM.

Carol Robinson is a Franco-American composer and clarinetist. Whether playing repertoire or experimental material, she performs in major venues and festivals over the world. She began composing by writing music theater pieces, subsequently receiving commissions for concert music, installations, radio, dance, and film productions. Recent premieres include instrumental music and works for vocal ensembles or orchestra, with commissions from Radio France, Brucknerhaus Linz, French Ministry of Culture and Donaueschinger Musiktage. Her music has been recorded by the Hessischer Rundfunk, Saarlandischer Rundfunk, Sudwest Rundfunk and Radio France, and released on PLUSH, AYLER, SHIIIN, MODE and Expérience de vol.

Erwan Keravec is a highland bagpiper, composer and improviser. In seeking out the more unusual sounds, and ways of playing and listening to his instrument, far from its original cultural setting, he is exploring improvised music, free and ‘noise’ jazz, and establishing a repertoire of contemporary music for solo pipes, trio with solo voice and with choir. With an interest in movement and in settings associated with reinvention, he also writes, plays and improvises for dance.

Louis-Michel Marion plays the 5-string double bass and the 7-string viola da gamba. He approaches these assemblages of wood, strings and horsehair as virgin lands from which to extract sound material to be modeled, material that he shares in projects of improvised or contemporary music, alone or in the company of other musicians, choreographers, authors, visual artists, videographers, and other poets of all kinds. Fascinated by the music of Éliane Radigue, he met her in 2014 and created several pieces from her monumental cycle “OCCAM OCEAN”. He directs the ensemble l'Archipel Nocturne, in which he has been engaged in the creation of pieces by Carol Robinson and Hervé Birolini.


Credits

Main image

© Carol Robinson

Curatorship

Carol Robinson

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