Die zerschlagene Stimme
4-channel electroacoustic composition /
studio : Klang Projekte Weimar / 1991 / duration: 10:14 min /
first performance in the original 4-channel version on 13 September 1991 during the Festival 4.Tage Neuer Musik (Weimar, Germany) /
Hanns-Eisler-Prize of Radio Deutschlandsender Kultur (Berlin, 1991)
All sounds in Die zerschlagene Stimme are derived from the human voice and from percussion instruments. These sources were then transformed with the help of customized computer programs. Both sound groups are transformed in six stages. Percussion sounds inherit vocal articulations while voice-sound characteristics are transformed directly into percussion sounds, thus giving speaking percussion and a beating voice. There are several intermediate stages based on the mutual influence of the two groups, ranging from complete fusion to distinguishable distortion.
Originally for four channels, an essential factor in this piece was the ‘composition of space.’ I sought to translate ‘emotional space’ into physical ‘acoustic space.’ Feelings like fear and distress are placed closer than those expressing hope and dreams. The movements of the sounds in the hall have a direct relation to their transformation processes.
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