Solide, amorphe, fragile et transparent

About

“Solide, amorphe, fragile et transparent is a piece about glassmaking using the blowing technique. The form unfolds all the stages of glassmaking: heating sand at high temperature, shaping, adding colors, constant movement, blowing with a pipe, breaking, and cooling.

For more than two years, I had wanted to compose a piece with glass instruments, whose sound and physical properties fascinate me. Glass has an intrinsic poetry: its transparency, fragility, lack of elasticity, and high-pitched sonorities make it a pure, inspiring element. The question of textures, temperatures, colors, and materials is central to my work. The piece isolates each stage of fabrication through specific treatments, processes, and sonorities.

The setup consists of four timpani, acting as acoustic resonant filters through which other sounds are amplified, two sets of eight wine glasses (tuned with water), two glass plates, and various accessories. This piece is the result of a close collaboration with percussionist Rémi Schwartz, with whom we explored the material of glass, its properties, and its modes of resonance.”



Clara Olivares, June 2021