Output details

Galungan (8-channel electroacoustic composition)

Galungan (acousmatic, 8-channels, 10 minutes 26 seconds). Premiered at the 2010 Ai-maako Festival (Chile). Subsequent performances at ICMC (Huddersfield, 2011), EMS (New York, 2011), CMMAS (Morelia, 2011), Cutting Edge (Scarborough, 2010), MANTIS (Manchester, 2010). Appears in stereo on solo-composer disc David Berezan, Allusions Sonores, empreintes DIGITALes (Montreal), 2013 (IMED 13122).

The primary imperative of Galungan was to explore aspects of soundscape, cultural identity and abstracted spectral spatiality, within a unified spatial language. The majority of sound material was recorded by the composer during field research in Bali (2008 and 2009), and subsequently developed and shaped as 8-channel sound images. Insect, frog and gamelan sounds were investigated and developed to converge and interact timbrally and spatially. As a result, the spatial format was exploited in an intensive and integrated manner - spatial distribution, motion and density are related intimately to the spectromorphological aspects of sound materials. Pitched material developed from the source sounds were spectrally distributed in space or moved in trajectories according to gestural character and energy. Rhythmic motives were inspired by the pulsing rhythms of both the rice paddy and gamelan orchestra. In the Balinese calendar Galungan is an important religious holiday where ancestral spirits are believed to visit the Earth. The work was constructed to reflect this atmosphere and mood. The larger form reflects and sonifies the contrasting dynamics of the Balinese night - repose and rest intersect with ritual and musical acitivity that can occur at any time through the night, especially during periods like Galungan. This dualism was also explored through the balance of abstracted and strongly source-bonded sounds that formed the sonic threads through the work.