Don't miss the American premiere coming to
Roulette Intermedium (Brooklyn) on May 6
as part of Bang on a Can's Long Play Festival!
Dark, mysterious and unforgiving, the ocean’s murky depths have always stirred the imaginations of poets, painters, authors and explorers. For composer Zibuokle Martinaityte, the deep conceals a haunting and hypnotic music that can bring about a feeling of ritual calm; in her words, it inspires a music that metaphorically can “make the darkness visible.”
Hadal Zone, written for bass clarinet, tuba, violoncello, contrabass, piano and electronics, seeks to plumb the lower ranges of these instruments, shaping a listening environment that is defined as much by sound and vibration as it is by the musical intent of the composer. Performed by the adventurous Lithuanian ensemble Synaesthesis, and featuring recorded samples of the San Francisco-based choral group Volti (conducted by Robert Geary), the hour-long work takes its title from the scientific name for the region of the ocean that extends below 6,000 meters, where sunlight can never reach.
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Ensemble Synaesthesis: Artūras Kažimėkas (bass clarinet), Arnas Kmieliauskas (cello), Marta Finkelštein (piano), Donatas Butkevičius (contrabass) and Simonas Kaupinis (tuba)
In pre-recorded electronics: excerpts from “Chant des Voyelles” (Volti, conductor Robert Geary) and Eric Alatorre (bass voice)
Recordings: Vilniaus Plokštelių Studija, Lithuania, November 15-17, 2021
Recording Engineers: Vilius Keras and Evelina Bajorinienė
Mastering Engineer: Vilius Keras
Thanks to all the musicians who recorded samples for the electronics: the choral voices of Volti (conductor Robert Geary), Eric Alatorre (bass), Sergijus Kirsenka (tuba), Donatas Bagurskas (contrabass) and Andrius Žiūra (bass clarinet)
