Can polyphony teach us something about community building, and its collapse?
Polyphony is a well known timeless concept, but what happens when the voices switch positions? Or when the listener takes a different perspective? What if one voice magnifies and the other vanishes?
In Polyphonies, seventeen singers merge into an arbitrary soundscape. Sometimes they swarm together, other times the collective fans out into smaller formations or loose particles. Melodies are transmitted like relay batons. Conductor Kaspars Putniņš guides the ensemble from one era and genre to another; from 14th-century Guillaume de Machaut to contemporary composers such as Anna Clyne, Julia Wolfe and Kaija Saariaho.
The spectator moves freely through the open space, deciding where and when to sit, lie down or lean. Each of these choices brings different acoustic consequences: each individual movement - both physical and musical - has an impact on the collective.
Polyphonies is a new step in Aïda Gabriëls' research on the manoeuvring of seemingly fixed realities. She stages a thought experiment on power dynamics and community building, individual and collective, equality and difference. How do we resonate with others? How do we change due to external influences? Is the counterpoint of a society reversible? And is polyphony a form of utopia?
Credits
- Concept | Direction • Aïda Gabriëls
- Creation | Vocals • Vlaams Radio Koor / Adja
- Conductor • Kasper Putniņš
- Musical program • Alain De Ley
- Dramaturgy • Tessa Vannieuwenhuyze / Rudi Laermans