MUSIC FOR BLACK HOLES

Imagine music as a giant particle accelerator, a sound machine, which molecularises and atomises, ionises sound matter and captures within it a colossal energy of the cosmos. A current of cosmic electricity transposed into sound that takes us to the most alienating entities of the universe, the black holes. They are nothing and they are everything. Creators and destroyers. The anchors of the universe and the most fascinating and breathtaking objects in the cosmos. The ideal fantasy landscape for musical experiments to explore the furthest limits of our creative imagination.

With a duration of about 70 minutes, its singular virtuoso writing for the cello and a gigantic setup of live electronics, the new composition sounds like an unheard-of cosmic firework. Inspired by an interstellar journey to the origins of our universe, the eccentric electronic sound structures take us (quoted freely after Iannis Xenakis) like a spaceship sailing through the sonic cosmos, past constellations and galaxies that could previously only be perceived as in a distant dream.

The mind-bending ideas Black Holes bring about push us musicians beyond the limits to make music we previously could not have imagined.

Similarly, I am curious to see how these stunning sounds will in turn be able to capture the musical imagination af adventurous audiences and more specific of astrophysicists to intuitively connect with the core of their understanding of the universe. The speculations astrophysics bring about challenge our brains in ways that are almost counter-intuitive. Could the spectral sound spaces and the fractal sound processes of this music resonate and inspire them and an audience in general with a similar sense of wonder and amazement?

Arne Deforce

With his piece ... Limite les rêves au-delà, Hèctor Parra confronts us with the abysmal violence of physical forces carried by Arne Deforce's virtuoso playing and Thomas Goepfer's projection of electronic sounds: a utopian journey through the black holes described by astrophysicist Jean-Pierre Luminet.

The result of a shared passion for the physical sciences, the joint project of composer Hèctor Parra and cellist Arne Deforce is a profound, if not ontological, reflection on music. The creation approaches a path towards a reintegration of the most essential physical principles, and draws its inspiration from the theories, concepts and debates of contemporary astrophysical sciences. Throughout the piece, natural and artistic phenomena maintain a dialogue, from confrontation to fusion, which gradually gives way to a form of cosmological symphony. After an initial encounter with the inner, fragile and organic murmurs of space, the listener is confronted with the abysmal violence of the physical forces recreated by the cello and the electroacoustic device. Towards a Cosmology in Sound is a promise of energy whose irreducible purity opens the doors to a sensitive universe to be conquered.

‘Festival Archipel de Genève: the reign of the machines’
Review in Diapason 2018 May 20

The luxuriant and spectacular electronics developed by Hèctor Parra with Thomas Goepfer project the solo cello of Limite les rêves au-delà into a narrative dimension inspired by diving into a black hole. Arne Deforce responds with a full physical engagement that underlines the highly gestural nature of the meticulous writing, but is also caught up in the energy it produces, tending at times towards sound design.

- Pierre Rigaudière