El laberinto
01/09/23 for voice, bass clarinet and general MIDI
Composer's note
This piece revisits and recontextualises material originally written in the late 90s for an installation, later rearranged for the latin soul band El Cometa Allstars.
The world has changed a lot since then, and I feel much less comfortable about my place in it. Was I only able to become a ‘composer’ thanks to the the middle class white male privilege that gave me the confidence, agency and status to do so? Is there any value to my work, or is it just a self-indulgence? Am I privileged to be able to even ask that question?
The writing for the voice and clarinet is inspired by a tradition of wordless virtuoso unison lines most commonly associated perhaps with Carnatic/jazz fusions. The accompaniment makes self-consciously nostalgic use of General MIDI sounds in a Standard MIDI File, rewinding back to those naively happy days of plain text, ISDN dialup and minidiscs.
Notes
Written for and first performed by Stephanie Lamprea and Alex South at the Scottish Awards for New Music 2023 1 September 2023.
Score, midi file and demo
Duration ~3'