09|06|2023 The Greater Field
by
Performance
09|06|2023 The Greater Field
by
Performance
The premiere of The Greater Field closes composer Theo Alexander’s residency at Villa Filanda Antonini. It will take place on Friday 9 June at 7 p.m. Admission is free, booking via Eventbrite.
The Greater Field is an installed composition for voice and tape players written specifically for the Villa Filanda Antonini former-warehouse space. It is the culmination of a long period of research and experimentation that covered medieval and renaissance choral traditions, early taxonomical texts, the history of the textile industry, and extensive acoustic profiling.
The parts heard on tape were recorded on the organ at Santa Maria del Rovere, a local church in Treviso. The title of the work is taken from the Centuria Insectorum (1763) by Swedish natural historian Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), who developed highly influential systems of classification for insects, animals, plants, and more.
‘Across my research into histories of the textile industry and the natural sciences, I noticed an acute preoccupation with systematic arrangement. Additionally, a sense of confidence can found in both fields that their work was an expression of divine will, despite its mechanical appearances. My music is also preoccupied with creating order and systems, but mine are conversely designed to fail. However, these failures are productive, and the gap between the way I organise my musical material and the way it is performed allows fluidity and change in each work.’ Theo Alexander, Villorba, 2023.
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PROGRAMME
For two mezzo-sopranos, church organ and bells on tape.
by Theo Alexander.
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19:00 The Greater Field (for two mezzo-sopranos, church organ and bells on tape)
Performed by Nina Baietta and Chiaro Cecconello
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20:00 The Greater Field (Organ Reduction, Installation version)
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Strict silence is requested from the audience during the performance. The singers have to listen very closely to their tape players to complete their score. The audience is invited to watch the performance from a number of angles. Please move slowly if you want to walk around the performance area. During the installation version, the audience may move freely. The tape players must not be touched.