Liza Kuzyakova
Al Niente. A Song From a Past Time III
Piece for cello and fixed media
for Sigrid Sand Angelsen
(8-channel fixed media & live cello) 16'
Amid the amalgamation of acoustic and electronic textures in space, there is a perpetual shift in listening experience - from the peripheral to the proximate, from softness to expansivity, and between continuity and interrupted flow. Al Niente reveals the delicacy of sound materialities, forging an ambiguous shuttle between form and dispersal, the cohesive, almost physical integrity of cello, and a fracturing or pulverising gesture. Veering into the imaginary, the sense of drama lingers in the occluded traces of the cello's form. It is an invitation to succumb and be riveted by the transmuting, scattered in memory shapes and perceptual tensions.
The piece arose as a result of my fascination with a dynamically unfolding composition. Part of the research on sonic fiction, aural drama, and ruins, it grew out of the two earlier versions developed in close collaboration with the soloists. I want to express my deepest appreciation to Diederik Smulders, who worked with me at the initial stages. And to Sigrid Sand Angelsen for the generosity of time and fervour expressed during the many sessions we had over the course of the year it took to create this piece.
listen: https://soundcloud.com/lizakuzyakova/liza-kuzyakova-al-niente-a-song-from-a-past-time-iii-1/s-ThVh7CzzSHM?si=22e42b1418414006a67caad99f3f6bae&utm_source=clipboard&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=social_sharing
other iterations
Al Niente. A Song From a Past Time II
for Sigrid Sand Angelsen
(8-channel fixed media & live cello) 12'
Consequence in the scope of ruins? Sand carries the sound. Physical and instrumental space is falling down, a dance of fallen traces. This sense of disappearance, an internal space folding in on itself.
The piece in progress consists of four parts. Delving deeper into the subterranean fictional realm and drawing the aural confines in the first minutes, the work reveals the tension of presences as it further expands and draws attention to the ambiguity of materiality of the cello and fixed media. Characterised by a fragmented behaviour in the second movement, these malleable traces acquire a stronger sense of direction, 'becoming' a vortex in the third. The final chapter is devised as a (rapid) dispersion of previous elements of the work into the after-space. Fragmentation after the drama.
Al Niente II (video2023): https://youtu.be/c__Rq2Ur-H8
older versions 2023
Al Niente. A Song From a Past Time [I]
for Diederik Smulders
(12-channel fixed media & live cello) 6'
2024
Al Niente. A Song From a Past Time III (8ch), Amare Studio, Den Haag NL
June 22 2024 >
2023
Al Niente. A Song From a Past Time II (8ch) Koninklijk Conservatoriu Concert Hall, Den Haag NL
October 11 2023 >
Al Niente. A Song From a Past Time (12ch) New Music Lab, Den Haag NL
May 2023 >
Listen