collaborative semi-graphic score for 60 players
composed for Banda Municipal de Barcelona
commissioned by LEM festival, Barcelona 2002
Imagine an orchestra without a conductor - relying only on counting, accurate co-ordination may seem difficult. Imagine the same orchestra without a framework of number progressions, without a time-signature, and the idea of co-ordination completely falls apart. I have imagined an orchestra which builds its own co-ordination, step by step, through the collaborative progression of individual parts. It is the communication between the individual orchestra members that drives the music forward. Only at this stage is the conductor brought back in as 'umpire'.
Tidal, Nomad and Mad explore the richness of this co-ordination system by making audible the different tensions and flow created within the orchestra. Tidal introduces seven homogenous asymmetric instrumental groups giving each their own characteristic internal flow; Nomad gives nine soloists the task of collaborating to create forward momentum; and Mad allows the whole orchestra a complete breakdown in co-ordination in an apparently anarchic ending.
Perhaps contrary to expectations, this piece is not improvisatory but composed in detail. It is not about freedom or anarchy but about achieving a sensitive collaboration in a richly complex and varied group. The music ends up being a sonic-social structure brought alive by each member of the Banda Municipal de Barcelona.
Yolande Harris, Barcelona 2002
Video, single screen, 10 minutes, colour, sound 2002/2003
Filmed by Yolande in Barcelona
Sound track: Tidal Nomad Mad by Yolande, performed by Banda Municipal de Barcelona
Screening at VAD Festival Internacional de Video i Arts Digitals Girona Spain 2003
1 minute excerpt
from Birds 1999: ink on paper, colour, series of 6
from Walking the Line 1997: ink on paper, black and white, series of 65
from Walking the Line 1997: ink on paper, black and white, series of 65