The Sound Cinema is a place for the observation of sounds. It presents stories told without words, images formed by the movement of sound, audio postcards from remote corners of the globe, and imaginative constructs in time and space. Audiences will step out of the hubbub of the congress grounds straight into a unique space, where they will hear paramusical projects and archival radio shows.
Projections will be held in the historic sound engineering studio at the Wrocław Feature Film Studio. The morning program will feature radio dramas for children, while in the afternoon audiences will hear multi-channel pieces, field recordings from all over the world, masterpieces of musique concrète, radio dramas, electronic and electroacoustic compositions, both new and archival — ones that delimit the boundaries of music itself and ones that define its very essence.
SATURDAY – SEPTEMBER 10, 2011
10:00-11:00
Jerzy Afanasajew, Bronisław K. Przybylski “Dziwne Przygody Pana Zająca” (41’00 / 1988)
A radioplay for children with a wonderful musical score by Bronisław Kazimierz Przybylski and a great cast, including Irena Kwiatkowska, Jan Kociniak, Jerzy Bończak, Włodzimierz Nowak, Joanna Sobieska, and Andrzej Stockinger.
The Magic Hare embarks upon a journey in search of its own reflection. It turns out it has to perform five good deeds in order to regain the reflection. Its quest takes it through wonderful and mysterious places: from the Land of Humpbacked Dachshunds (or maybe the Land of Tiny Camels,) through the Land of Perpetually Burning Lamps and the Land of Happy Double-Basses, and ending up in the Land of Wonderful Technology. Isn’t it an astounding story?
11:00-11:30
Wojciech Marzec “I don’t want to stay here forever” (25’00 / 2001)
This radio play is a story of two characters that have somehow ended up in someone else’s imagination. Trying to prevent the world from forgetting about them, the characters travel from dream into memory, where they cross through thoughts, images, mysterious concepts, and weird associations. Their travels are interrupted by a mysterious force that transports them to a sheet of paper...
Written and directed by Wojciech Marzec.
Cast: Anna Poduszyńska, Wojciech Marzec.
11:30-12:00
Patryk Zakrocki, Wojciech Marzec – ZPD “Radio Plays” (30’00)
Eleven gems of the modern radio play genre, produced by the Sound Production Works. The sound director becomes the narrator who enables the audience to find themselves in a tiny musical instrument repair workshop, aboard a space shuttle or fly right next to Adam Małysz.
12:30-13:30
Chris Watson “Stepping into the dark” (59’43 / 1996)
Musical images from the whole world. The entirety of the piece was recorded with hidden microphones by the master of the “field recording” genre, Chris Watson. During this hour-long piece, the listener will be transported into unique locales in Scotland, England, Germany, Kenya, Venezuela, and Costa Rica.
14:00-15:00
Thomas Gerwin “Plastic Music” (48’00 / WDR 2007)
Plastic, as a material, contains two completely opposite aspects of time: as a disposable article, its lifespan is extremely short, but as waste, its decomposing time stretches into entire centuries. In his “Plastic Music” project, composer and sound artist Thomas Gerwin has investigated the sounds of this “cheap” material and a wide range of plastic articles we use everyday.
15:00-16:00
John Cage “Roaratorio” (60’09 / WDR 1979)
In his groundbreaking radio play, the legendary composer John Cage plays the musician, the poet, and the editor. Working in the spirit of Zen Buddhism, he merges the cosmogony of the human voice with the sounds of nature, noises, songs, and his own compositions. “Roaratorio” is the effect of Cage’s tireless fascination with Joyce’s groundbreaking work, “Finnegans Wake.” The poetic layer of the composition consists of quotes from the book. The sequence of letters in the Irish writer’s name is the central axis of this contemplative sound poem, recited by Cage himself. The complex musical side of the composition is also based on Joyce’s work. Using I Ching divination, Cage picked 2293 random sounds which were supposed to represent the variety of motifs and sounds in “Finnegans Wake.” These sounds were latter arranged to form a polyphonic collage, with ballads, jigs, and instrumental music captures in situ in Ireland, weaved into it.
16:30-17:30
Cathy Milliken “Songs of War and Love” (41’53 / HR 2005)
Cathy Milliken references the 17th century work of Claudio Monteverdi titled “Madrigali guerrieri et amorosi,” a collection of fragments of vocal music performances from every corner of the world including a set of musical themes echoing the Thirty Years’ War. Using a mixture of textual and musical styles, Milliken’s composition tries to express the experiences of modern love and modern war. The resulting work straddles two archetypes of civilizations. On one hand, the composition’s form is a reference to the classical song cycle intended for live performance. On the other hand, it’s a result of editing and sublime arrangement work, made possible thanks to modern recording studios.
17:30-18:30
Krzysztof Topolski “The Vancouver Soundscape” – live act (~60’00 / 2011)
Topolski’s (a.k.a Arszyn) piece introduces the work of a pioneer research group called “The World Soundscape Project,” established by R. Murray Shafer at the Simon Fraser University in Vancouver in the 1960s. Field recordings, soundscape composition, and a general feel for electroacoustic music are only a few from the wide variety of skills that Arszyn possesses. His mastery of said skills will help us grasp notion of acoustic ecology. The composition is based on selected works from “the Vancouver Soundscape 1973” and “Soundscape Vancouver 1996.”
18:30-19:30
Antje Vowinckel “Call me yesterday” (49’50 / 2008)
Language courses from the 60s and 70s recorded on vinyls and tapes. They were supposed to bring down barriers between cultures, but the exact opposite effect took place. In the noise- and click-filled gaps, the unseen teachers with their perfect pronunciation wait for the student’s answer, but hear only silence. The silent pauses fill the empty space. Seconds stretch into light years. Nice people say: “Hi,” but nobody answers them. An acoustic metaphor for isolation induced by the language courses in “real” life.
19:30-20:00
Louis 2000 “Bivouac / au bord du fleuve Niger” (20’00)
A sound journal of a trip in the Niger Delta in Africa.
THE AFRICAN REVERSAL
We arrive at Konna in the morning. Our barge left and we have to wait for another one to take us to Timbuktu. We have no way to determine when the barge will be coming. The village is about three kilometers away from the banks of the Niger. We want to see if there are any musicians there. We finally decide to hitch a ride on a donkey-drawn cart. There are six passengers, but the number will change as the journey progresses. The exhausted donkey plods on and we reach the Konna’s center. As usual in these circumstances, we ask around for musicians. Finally, we happen upon a workshop converted into an inn, or maybe the other way around, we couldn’t really tell. We get a meal and wait for a man called Djeliba, a guitar player from Konna. When we finish eating, a man equipped with an old guitar and some transistor radio comes up to us. After short introductions, Djeliba starts to plays. His guitar, amplified by the modified old radio, sounds perfect. The music is wonderful, full of strength, like Chicago blues. It’s aggressive and impressive as rock. We are delighted. The musician accents certain passages with a hearty “he toubab!”. After hearty applause we offer to record him playing. We were setting up our hardware when Djeliba suddenly turned off his retro amp. “With your gear we won’t need my amp,” he explained. He didn’t understand that we also wanted to record the sound of his homebrew amp.
STEREO
The sun was already setting when we left Mopti aboard a barge. The skipper tried to talk to the mechanic over the din of the engine. In the distance we see two fishing skiffs. The skipper turned the engine off and steered the boat, careful not to damage the skiffs. We heard the delicate sound of fishing nets hitting the water and the murmur of the river.
TIMBUKTU CADENCES
We arrived in Timbuktu on Thursday. On Friday, the local mosque will be filled with the faithful. Timbuktu doesn’t really catch the attention of travelers despite its white sands, warm bread, and wooden doors with metal fixtures. Who are the 333 saints? Timbuktu isn’t just the end of the road. A week from today, in Ségou, Hamadoun Tandina will weave stories about Timbuktu in a way that will make me feel like I never left.
20:00-21:00
Monika Pasiecznik presents: Heiner Goebbels "Die Befreiung des Prometheus" (45', 1985)
“Liberation of Prometheus” is a fragment of play “Cement” by Heiner Muller. With the use of various tools, like song’s mood, collage, film technics (cut, retrospective), Heiner Goebbels creates sound interpretation of the play and of a political message included in the text. Is it possible to reconciliate with domination, and to long for the eagle on the rocky slope that symbolizes oppression?
godz.21:00–22:00
Michał Libera “Experimental Studio of the Polish Radio” – part 2 (~60’00 / 2011)
The second of the series of three radio shows dedicated to the recordings captured in the legendary Experimental Studio of the Polish Radio. Established in 1957 due to the tireless efforts of Józef Patkowski, the Studio was one of the most prolific and original establishments dedicated to sonic experiments in Poland. Unfortunately, up until 2010 accessing the Studio’s archives was almost impossible and no archival recordings were ever released. Because of that, the Studio’s place in Polish musical history of the 20th century is wholly inadequate to its real output, which was truly unique. The audience will have a chance to learn a bit about the Studio’s history and hear the most important works recorded therein. But first and foremost, the show will present how original and unique the studio was in comparison to other similar facilities established in the 50s (like the Cologne and Paris Studios.) The show will be split into three parts, dedicated among others to written scores for electronic music, fascination with instruments, intuitiveness of the composition process, and the important role of the sound director. Some newer recordings from the Studio, which could be called the Polish equivalent of noise music, will also be presented during the show.
Author of the project: Patryk Zakrocki
Curated by: Patryk Zakrocki, Oliver Sturm, Jérôme Delormas
Coordinated by: Dawid Bargenda
Coorganizer: House of Peace Foundation
Partnerzy projektu: IRCAM (Institut de Recherche et Coordination Acoustique/Musique), WDR (Westdeutscher Rundfunk), DLR (Deutschlandradio Kultur), SWR (Südwestrundfunk), HR (Hessischer Rundfunk), Gusstaff Records, hanczar studio, Ośrodek Postaw Twórczych.
