Piece Information
Duration:
~6 minutes
World Premiere:
7 January 2025, Bilkent Concert Hall
I wasn't seeking an exit, I was searching for the thread that would lead me back to the purpose.
Description (Concert Note)
Tunnels (2025) is a piece about shifting realities and spaces. Its story involves an entangled mixture of real and dream-like events.
The piece/story has 2 layers. The first layer is a fictional story about an exploration trip to the underground. After various events (Burried Forest), the main character loses its light source in dark tunnels and blindly navigates to the unknown. He crosses lakes, sees crystal geodes, and hears earthquakes and collapsation. As he tries to find any light source, he finds himself in weirder situations. The physicality of the piece; elemental usage (water, earth, glass...), frequency usage, reverberation, etc is gathered around this reality.
The second layer is about my journey through this semester. The story contains important events from my life, thoughts, feelings, and such. It functions as a diary to me. This personal reality decides my sound material (car, train, sea), musicality (mood), dynamics, and pace, alongside some scenery connected with the story layer.
2 layers have their accented, dedicated sections in the form/structure of the piece. For example, a train sound is ultimately connected with the real life. However, they morph into each other continuously (for example it turns into a rumble, a quake). Thus, they create a unique and alternative story we can call a 3rd layer; the Masking layer. A layer that has petrified as audio, lost its composer's heritage and merged with the listener's story. Enjoy.
Composer's Notes
[composer] This piece starts with the end of a concert. However, the Composer is not satisfied; how could he be? Fake applause never means anything; self-insecurities wash him in the buzzing rooms. After all those sacrifices, there is only one feeling to feel: a calm disappointment, a heart-wrenching repetitive hopelessness. The concert was mediocre, and this was the biggest problem. After hours, there was a snowstorm outside.
[adventurer] After he lost his only light source, the adventurer thinks very hardā¦ What to do? Go back? He could not navigate the tunnels without his flashlight. But then, he starts to hear the crystals on the wall, and later, he sees a little better in the absolute darkness. He decides the only way forward is to go down; he did not come here just to return now!
[composer] After some time alone, the Composer decided to travel somewhere new, somewhere he did not think he could or shouldā¦ To the past, to locate the goal and the reason for his life. He starts his research for his life.
[adventurer] The cave is rumbling, and an earthquake is happening. Without any break, a very wild airflow creates this life-threatening turbulence. Everything is still dark as hell, and it is impossible to navigate. All of the adventurer's invoices refuse to go further, but he somehow pushes toward them. This blinds him, but he keeps moving forward. Is moving forward half of the curse?
[neutral] I remember those calm days. The pool, the sea, the underbridge water pond... Those were the bitter-sweet, painful, but human days. Perhaps it is time to change my perspective on life and death? Maybe life is not something you should be worried about all the time. Perhaps I should try to be more human and enjoy the journey in its weird situations and hardships. With all of its darkest moments, confusing corridors, and rides to the unknown, it is something. Perhaps the Forbidden Flower Garden is not a place to be arrived at, but a state of mind?
Inspirations
ā¢ Jonty Harrison - Sorties