based on the homonymous choral by J. S. Bach
electric guitar and electronics
ca 16 min.
composition: 2022-23

The music stretches and deconstructs the choral in an extremely slow tempo, creating a microscopic focus on the heart of the harmony. By adding voices—both the SATB voices of the chorale and imaginary voices created using electronics—the chorale becomes increasingly acoustically powerful, increasingly expansive, deep and broad. The listener thus experiences a true acoustic experience and a phenomenon of auditory perspective. Through enveloping sound, we seek to convey a sense of fullness, to speak to the heart, to the listener’s innermost being.

All the sounds come from the electric guitar itself: combining the concepts of polyphony, harmony and acoustics, the guitar and electronics create a phenomenon of resonance, sympathy and acoustic interference through the meeting of voices.

Thus, the processed sound of the guitar becomes a kind of imaginary organ. The acoustic space meets the spirit of the church: a space for contemplation and transcendence through sound, vibration and listening. At the same time, the real sound of the plucked guitar strings is almost inevitably heard. It sounds like ancient, distant, strange music for lute or theorbo, played on stage. This is how different worlds coexist: ancient and modern, acoustic and electronic.

The aim is to make the vibration vibrate and to make it felt: the vibration that occurs within the sound and harmony, the vibration that occurs within the audience’s listening, and the vibration that occurs in the space of the hall. This is how Die Sonn’ hat sich mit ihrem Glanz gewendet takes shape: by bringing the performer, the instrument and the audience into a kind of communion, a collective vibration.

Pierre Pradier
Conservatoire de Paris (FR), 20 Jan. 2023 world premiere

image: starred night