Éliane Radigue

“Occam Océan - Occam Delta X” (2018)

OCCAM OCÉAN – OCCAM DELTA X was realised between 2016 and 2018. Two intensive rehearsal periods with Éliane took place in Paris, between these two sessions we played the piece privately during our regular ensemble rehearsals in Berlin. For the first rehearsal which took place in spring 2016, Éliane introduced us to the concept of her OCCAM OCÉAN cycle and we discussed together a suitable image as the starting point for our work. An image which resonated with all of us was the ocean's depths and so we started there. Extreme depth and darkness naturally suggested a subharmonic tone from the tuba which forms the starting point of our journey - as envisioned by Éliane - from the depths to the surface. The higher overtones contained within this tone are gradually brought into relief by the horn and trombone as the musicians move through an extremely dense and complex sea of harmonics. Our journey moves very slowly and almost imperceptibly from the depths to the surface, but never in a linear fashion. We encounter whirlpools, eddies and vortexes, at times gaining clarity and other times becoming murky again, sometimes falling back down to lower levels but gradually and inevitably ascending. As we approach our destination everything becomes clearer and we begin to gravitate to and encircle closer pitch clusters, at times approaching a near unison. At the final breakthrough to the surface the horn and tuba slowly fade leaving a muted trombone, dancing on the bright surface at the end of the piece.

OCCAM DELTA X requires us to enter a meditative state whereby we lose sense of our individual playing and merge into one constantly shifting sound body. This is very demanding as the actual playing demands physical strength and extreme control, but at the same time we have to let go and so that the music carries us. While playing we are internally navigating through our individual ocean imagery, and at the same time we are playing and shaping the external space into which the sound is projected. The performance of this work takes a lot of time and requires a calm setting for both musicians and audience to enter into the right open, alert and relaxed state of mind. Physical comfort of the listeners is essential, as is a suitable acoustic and non-invasive lighting. Inevitable external sounds, such as coughing or traffic from outside, eventually do not disturb the state we enter, as long as enough time is given for it to settle. Rehearsing this piece also requires considerable time and Éliane told us definitely not to rush into performing it, rather we had to let the piece grow inside our minds and only start performances at the right moment. This moment naturally appeared in the form of an opportunity to play in the setting of Leonor Antunes' exhibition “the last days in Galliate” in Pirelli Hangar Bicocca, Milan on 18 December 2018, curated by Pedro Rocha. Leonor is herself is a very big fan of Éliane's work and was delighted that we could present the world premiere in her environment. The extremely large space offered a rich acoustic and enough physical space for the audience to experience the oceanic journey. Prior to this performance we travelled once more to Paris to work with Éliane to realise the piece with her, so in fact the premiere actually took place in her apartment!

Performances

SUNDAY 24 OCTOBER 2021

Well Tuned Brass 2021

Kulturaum Zwingli-Kirche
Rudolfstraße 14
10245 BERLIN Friedrichshain

THURSDAY 9 MAY 2019

Leonor Antunes
a seam, a surface, a hinge or a knot

opening concert
Zinc & Copper play

Ellen Arkbro "Three" (2016)
Éliane Radigue "Occam Ocean - Delta X" (2018)

VENICE BIENNALE
Portugal Pavilion at the Venice Biennale
Palazzo Giustinian Lolin
30124 VENICE

dgartes.gov.pt

TUESDAY 18 DECEMBER 2018

Ellen Arkbro
"Three" (2016)
Zinc & Copper + Leonor Antunes
"disrepencies with F.H." (World Premiere)
Éliane Radigue
"Occam Ocean – Delta X" (World Premiere)

LEONOR ANTUNES
"the last days in Galliate"
Pirelli HangarBicocca
Via Chiese 2
20126 MILAN

hangarbicocca.org

Éliane Radigue

Text by Éliane Radigue

OCCAM OCÉAN is the overall title of a series of works: solos, duos, trios etc. Each of these works, along with the title, bears a marking relating to its instrumentation, e.g. ‘Delta’, ‘Hepta’ etc., followed by a Roman numeral indicating the order of composition. To this day there have been over fifty realisations. The story of this work begins in the 1970s. The discovery of a long chart at the Natural History Museum in Los Angeles showing all possible wavelengths from the earth to the sun, extending to the tiniest levels – micro, nano – that resonate endlessly in the spirit, to the point of an inner dizziness. Within the boundaries of our human perception, however, we can find many possibilities for discovery, application and adaptation, e.g. in the tiny zone between 50 and 60 Herz – some 12,000, some of which can be translated into ‘sounds’.

THE OCEAN strikes me as the phenomenon on our planet that comes closest to this infinite vibration in our direct perception.

OCCAM: a reference to one of the best-known theories of the fourteenth-century English philosopher William of Ockham, often applied by artists such as the great architect Mies van der Rohe: ‘Occam’s Razor’. I take full responsibility for my extreme simplification of this theory as a maxim that, when in doubt, I follow in my work: ‘the simplest, the best’.

In technical terms, the aim is to bring out as intensely as possible the OCEAN of overtones, faint beating, pulsations and harmonic abundance: everything that gives each sounding body its intangible essence. By leaving as much as possible to the natural laws of acoustics, taking into account the acoustic response of the place and the ‘tuning’ of the instrument, whatever the respective intonation system, to its best resonance… Letting various tunings beat against each other in an ensemble, from the Baroque to the Classical A, which are most fruitful for these encounters in the micro-realm; every tuning sounds in its own pure intonation. The ideal is for the listener to ‘forget’ the fundamental pitch or pitches: an indispensable energy for the creation of these many phenomena, which obviously manifest themselves with intonations that are impossible to temper!The technical skill lies in exploring these ‘immaterial’ sounds within the sound, usually through continuous sounds extending from pianissimo to a brief mezzo-forte, in order to prevent the fundamental from becoming dominant – there are always there, of course, but remain somewhat in the background in a way of listening that Pauline Oliveros called ‘deep listening’.

OCCAM, the virtuosity of an extreme control over the playing techniques developed by the performer vs. the complexity of a ‘brio’ virtuosity. So we are left with the problem of writing down these splendid, necessary fundamental pitches that are moved to the background in favour of infinitely small sonic phenomena? ...Impossible!...

Each player determines their own form of writing, which is usually connected to the playing techniques employed as well as their personal relationship with the instrument, or simply based on recordings. The structure of each work is based on a ‘mental image’ that is usually developed together with the musician(s), but is always unique, connected to the respective dedicatee, the only person who can play it – if they wish.

The image is necessarily associated with water. Light bubbles escape from the sand at a tiny source in the depths of the ocean, take many different routes through waterfalls and fountains, rivers and streams, lakes or ponds, taking the form of internalisation, a personal evocation of a place, a contemplation that constructs every work. A form of ‘mental score’ that we can always refer to in case of doubt or forgetting.

This is the protocol that was established for all of OCCAM OCÉAN

Éliane Radigue