Unavoidably Sentimental

Year: 2017

Instrumentation: Clarinet, Saxophone, Trombone, Violin, Viola, Cello, Percussion, Harp, Electric Guitar, Piano, Accordion

First performance by Ensemble zone expérimentale, conductor: Marcus Weiss - 21.09.2017, Kaserne, Basel (Switzerland)

Recording:

Note:
“Hal, who’s empty but not dumb, theorizes privately that what passes for hip cynical transcendence of sentiment is really some kind of fear of being really human, since to be really human (at least as he conceptualizes it) is probably to be unavoidably sentimental and naive and goo-prone and generally pathetic”
(David Foster Wallace, Infinite Jest)

Along a stream of sonic events, I tried to orchestrate moments of post-ironic musical communication. These sections of direct communication with the musicians - hopefully growing from initial conscious aesthetic experience into a meaningful exchange - should inform a web of reappearing musical protagonists. What could be conceived at first as a quaint narrative might resonate in an inwards-gazing acoustic experience. The intent here is to challenge the limits of the expressive power of music – can sounds recreate (or represent) the intimacy of glaring eyes?