V.I.T.R.I.O.L.

About

"Go to the center of the Earth and by rectifying, you will find the hidden stone."

This Latin phrase, which is the origin of the name sulfuric acid, is the starting point of my piece for ensemble and electronics, conceived as an initiatory journey. Each stage of this initiation, which mirrors the stages of human life, corresponds to a progressive expansion of the sonic space.

The age of innocence. The carefree clarinet emerges from the depths of the music with its electronic shadow. The string quartet, independent, reacts to this dialogue, offering its own teeming sound world, sometimes highlighted and sometimes more withdrawn. Unperturbed, the clarinet and its virtual double develop unhurriedly. Two rhythmic spaces evolve in parallel, thanks to the two different rhythmic pulses defined by the electronics.

The age of trials. The individual faces themselves and their surroundings. The instruments clash, the clarinet struggles, in conflict, in search. In connection with it, the real-time electronics create oppositions, fusions, independent evolutions, introducing elements sometimes similar, sometimes radically opposed to the instrumental part. The double pulses reappear, complementing and linking until they form only one.

The age of maturity. Wisdom is acquired. After the large section with complex harmonies that concludes the second part, the ensemble gradually fades away, leaving the individual alone, at the center of everything, fully aware of their identity.

Certain recurring materials punctuate this journey: the crackling of fire—symbol of life, symbol of destruction—, the different pulses—rhythmic spaces that contradict, respond to, and mingle with each other as they accumulate—, and the large timeless stretches, like chorales, marking the milestones of the initiatory path.


– Clara Olivares, September 2016