Circular macht sich die Aufhebung der Klangzeit zur Aufgabe, um ein Eintauchen in die Klangfarbe zu ermöglichen. Ein hervorgerufener Ton, der mit dem Verstreichen der Zeit die Aufhebung derselben transportiert, wird begrenzt durch Spuren von Schönheit und Andacht, feine Kontraste und erhabenem Verständnis meditativer Abstraktion. Die Kontrolle, die Circular über seine Kompositionen ausübt, ist mit scharfsinnig und lässt den Steinen des Klangstroms freien Lauf, wenn dieser seinen natürlichen Einfluss geltend macht.
After many conversations and many hours listening to music we decided that it
was time to do something different. The change of ideas, impressions and
emotions we experienced as we listened to music increased in intensity until
giving way to our own experience which began in 2000. This process had different
stories and motivations for each one of us, but we all agreed that the
exploration had to be undertaken in a manner that is constant, "not spectacular"
and that is prepared to accept the errors stemming from our lack of technical
professionalism as musicians.
We believed we had other things in our favor such as having listened to many
kinds of music we liked which we had even "studied" privately for a long period
with the abilities, knowledge or ignorance we all have within us.
In this apprenticeship we also agreed about one thing: to respect many musical
forms and traditions which in most cases involved situations of introspection
and reflection. Since ancient times music has accompanied (or was generated by)
a large variety of vital events. Whether during festivities, forms of worship,
concerts or as an expression of intellectual exercise, music is (almost) always
present. Some even consider the rhythms of corporal activity as irrefutable
proof of our permanent contact with sound.
We also shared another impression. Many times, when listening to different
pieces- above all with academic avantgarde music - we both felt that there were
sonorous colors and gestures that occurred too rapidly. In the urge to respect
the formal logic of the compositions or the more established musical languages,
moments of great richness were lost (especially in terms of timber) which
vanished in the blink of an eye before they could blossom.
Within the ephemeral character of the music or within that "volatility" there
were expressions that did not share the urge or the "fear of nothingness" where
everything is submitted to the order of narrative. There exists a broad array of
musics ranging from very old ones to contemporary ones that share a trait that
is very different from that immediacy we have mentioned. The first forms of
polyphony in the Middle Ages, the harmonic flow of the Renaissance madrigals,
the music of Erik Satie, John Cage and his thoughts on silence, the English
composers who emerged from experimental circles in the seventies and, of course,
the minimalists.
In the sound experience which the minimalists started in the early 70's the
proposal of "pausing" evolved into a multitude of colors capable of renovating
themselves depending on the origin and geographical location of the musicians.
East and West were in a musical beginning where the perception of time would be
radically transformed. The adaptation of ancient forms of musical knowledge and
the filter of avantgarde will lead us to reshape our relationship with ancestral
ways of relating to music. The suspension of time, the capacity to experience a
immersion into sound and pause in its color outside the velocity imposed by the
adherence to narrative where everything must have an order of questions and
answers and developments.
To speak of "non-directional" music would be debatable. By virtue of choosing
successions of colors (timbres), orchestration or events depending on time,
static music also has direction.
An example would be the gamelan Indonesian music which is based on patterns of
repetitive interchanges, the "laments" and slow airs of the Scottish bagpipes
whose melodic ornaments make use of rules, the apparent slowness of the Japanese
gagaku which responds to a series of movements, and the trutrukas of the South
American Andes that "don't always play the same".
Aware of a necessity in which ideas and emotions are not absent, we started
following our way. Our first record has a series of pieces realized during the
year 2000. This CD was reedited again in a small number, 149 numbered copies,
produced by the label minuscula in Berlin.
In 2002, we focused in the exploration of metal sounds by using gongs from a
Javanese gamelan. Hoping to learn with each step we make, we will try that our
music could express some of the ideas stated in these lines.
José Marchi - Daniel Varela / Buenos Aires, 2002
Primitive man and woman found magical sounds in the materials around them - in a
reed, a piece of bamboo, a particular piece of wood held in a certain way, or a
skin stretched over a gourd or a tortoise shell - some resonating body. They
then proceeded to make the object, the vehicle, the instrument, as visually
beautiful as they could . Their last step was almost automatic. The
metamorphosis of the magical sounds and the visual beauty into something
spiritual. These became fused with their everyday words and experience: their
ritual, drama, religion - thus lending greater meaning to their lives.
These acts of primitive man and woman became the trinity of this work:
magical sounds - visual form and beauty- experienced ritual.
Harry Partch, 1967 ( reprinted in Musicworks 37, Winter 1987 )
I have taken out the Circular CD again and listened to it to have a refreshed
impression: I like this CD very much; it is very original music that has a great
intensity and atmosphere.
Bernard Günter, Germany
I liked Circular CD very much. I don't have more to say, but I like this kind of
careful music. Let me know if you are coming over to Europe for a tour. I think
you should play live some more .
Clive Graham, UK
Circular is indeed just my cup of tea -- I've listened to it and think it's
quite a nice work.
Chris Rice (editor Halana magazine USA)
Circular by Jose Marchi and Daniel Varela, is a very beautiful work witch
deserve to be better known. With a brilliant sound and a simple and crystalline
composition.
David Maranha, Portugal
Circular is stunning
John Duncan, USA / Italia
The delicate and elegant Marchi/Varela CD is particularly pleasing and easy to
listen to.
I found the squawky solo in the second band a good relief from the otherwise
very new-age-like surface. But of course the CD's relaxed aura is in many ways
more STATELY and musically thoughtful than it is meditative.
Tony Conrad, USA
CD's I mostly play once, then try once more. Your music is so fine. I play the
works you sent me again and again. You are a wonderful composer and I hope to
meet you one day. My
favorite so far is the one with the repeating theme of about four notes and the
bells and the children… El Jardin de los Colores it is a piece I play many
times.
Alison Knowles, USA
The CD is beautifully designed … also, the music has pleased me a lot … more
maybe than any other younger musicians I´ve heard recently. I can now see why
you feel close to my music.
Philip Corner, USA / Italia
New tonal/ minimalism oriented/ ethnic influenced experimental musics…
That about describes the range of my influences! … I can clearly hear the
minimalist, drone, gamelan, etc aesthetic links which we share. I am heartened
that there are others - even so far geographically from each other - who share
such unusual tastes!
Andrew Timar, Canada
I liked the music very much; I found the pieces very sensitive and evocative…
'El jardin de los Colores' - although there is an obvious La Monte Young
influence, your sounds are quite different. I like the way the sounds 'grow'
(like a plant) upwards from the initial low drone into the treble register… With
'La Oracion del Arco Iris' I found the juxtaposition of the water sounds and the
children's voices very effective. I like the way the children sound very 'real'
at first but then become 'unreal'…
I found the sounds of gongs, barking dogs, waterfall and children, birds and
church bells in 'El Jardin Blanco' very beautiful, but also unpredictable and a
good sense of timing. I like the way you use (quotations from my piece)
'Lullaby' - at first the harmonies and then a quote from the 5/4 rhythm; I think
it is very effective having the low 'g' coming in - it has the feel of a
different tonality from the 'c' of Lullaby. The whole piece came over as a
dramatic poem in sound … I found the end very beautiful with the bird sounds and
the harmonies with isolated church bell sounds finally ending with just the
birds.
Hugh Shrapnel, UK
Bild © Circular |
