SUB
(2008)
For 14 instruments and 1 sampler ( ca. 15 min )
Flute, Clarinet (bass cl), Saxophone (alt,ten), Bassoon (contra bassoon), 2 Percussions,
Piano, Accordion, Horn, Trombone, 2 Percussionists, Violin, Viola, Cello, Contrabass
& 1 Sampler
commissioned by New Music Concerts Toronto
funded by Ontario Council for the Arts
Since moving to Canada I've noticed that the Toronto SUB-way is not only a wonderful source of a variety of amazingly attractive sounds but also a place of communication, where people from all over the world meet in a kind of daily ritual performance like a concert.
They bring along all their movements and sounds of their cultural background and throw it into this huge sound-pool for a short trip through space and time. Not only the squawking sound on a slight curve during its dynamic rush to the next station, announcements on some loudspeaker or unspecified voices and laugh in a station, the station itself turns into a huge blowing instrument when two trains simultaneously divide the air. To get in at the last moment, people play accelerandos with their feet and, not noticing their own contribution to the wonderfully complex rhythms, just happily smile on hearing the door-closing chime.
My musical idea for this piece is based on such realistic impression of a typical "soundscape" of Toronto whose variety of unexpected sounds I've met.