Music for birds…

Concert
A visit to the library of the faculty of Engineering and Architecure of the Ghent University, designed by Kersten Geers and David Van Severen, is one of the highlights of an architecture walk through the city. For this occasion, the Italian composer Simonluca Laitempergher wrote Music for birds that are supposed to breathe underwater for ensemble and electronics, taking into acount its specific spatial and acoustic characteristics.

For Atlas Eclipticalis John Cage was inspired by the collection of sky maps which the Czech astronomer Antonín Becvár published in 1958. He literally took this book as point of departure: on top of the star charts he placed staves on which he drew larger or smaller dots according to the stars’ brightness. The result is a murmuring multitude of subtly buzzing dots in a sonorous firmament.

Cages Cartridge Music is used as guideline to apply chance operations triggering the recording, manipulation and spacialized distribution of the sounds produced by the musicians.

For Tierkreis Karlheinz Stockhausen on the other hand, departed from astrology. Twelve melodies characterize the signs of the zodiac. In an adaptation specially made for this event, SPECTRA positions eight musicians and loudspeakers over the width, length and height of the library building.

Programme & credits

Programme

Karlheinz Stockhausen (1928-2007)
Tierkreis (1974-1975)
realisation live electronics: Dirk Veulemans

John Cage (1912-1992)
Atlas Eclipticalis (1961)
Cartridge Music (1960)

Simonluca Laitempergher (°1980)
Music for birds that are supposed to breathe underwater (2019)
commissioned by SPECTRA
creation

Lucien Goethals (1931-2006)
Studie III (1962)

CREDITS

performance
SPECTRA conducted by Filip Rathé
live-electronics: Dirk Veulemans and Simonluca Laitempergher

Calendar

Sunday 22 September 2019, 14:00
Gent, Faculteitsbibliotheek
Sunday 22 September 2019, 17:00
Gent, Faculteitsbibliotheek

Media