This piece tricked me into being very excited to listen to it. The piece was called "Requiem" with numbers called "Sanctus", "Lux Aeterna". However, being a composer, I quickly got into the rhythm of Chion's version of Requiem. The first thought that came to my mind when listening to this piece was void memes. The sounds used in this album bear a striking resemblance to the various textures and colours of the Avangard void memes.
The metallic sounds, with alterations that make them sound almost overly industrial, overshadow the original source of the sound. I tried reverse engineering a few sounds, but they were so complexly processed that it was almost impossible to get to the root of the sound. Also, I tried comparing the piece Lux Aeterna by the choir version of Mansell's Lux Aeterna performed by Voces8. I tried to find if Chion borrowed any inspiration from these pieces. However, I was not able to draw any parallels.
However, I see where Chion was going with his requiem, which was totally different from the conventional requiems. The notes on the album help us see the piece from Chion's perspective. The album in its entirety sounds very despairing and sad. Track 3 in particular, where there is a child-like voice narrating something and then a radio-like repetition of that in the background that gradually takes over. That piece to me resembled times of war and how many innocent lives were sacrificed.
Also, the transition of track 3 into track 4 is almost scary. It caught me off-guard and by surprise and changed the mood completely. It made me more alert and almost made me feel like there was an emergency alarm.
It was exciting and enriching to listen to Chion's twist on the Requiem. It is as different from a "Requiem" as it can be, yet maintains a similar sort of overall general mood and feeling
Outstanding comparison of Requiem to void memes. That's the kind of contemporary analysis we need to see in this world. But if you're ever looking for some different approaches to describing that aesthetic, maybe "over-saturated" or "abrasive" or something would work. But "void memes" is cool.
ReplyDeleteBen Jahnke
Ani,
ReplyDeleteI really like how you perspective compares the sounds to those of memes--an intensely visual medium. From my experience also, I couldn't escape the intense visuality of this piece, even if those images were quite disturbing or even outright gross.
-Ben Gunsch
Some good observations, Ani. I think what I'd like to read for your next listening post is a little more cohesion--you tend to jump from one idea to the next, and instead, it would be good to have better sense of your overall impression along with a specific example or two that illustrates your ideas.
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