Variations and Theme on Invisible Cities

Ján Števuliak

Variations and Theme on Invisible Cities for Pianist-Singer and Electronics

London, 2021-2022

for Carolina Cury

Variations and Theme on Invisible Cities for Pianist-Singer and Electronics Duration ca. 6’

Programme and Performance Notes This work is a result of a collaboration with pianist and singer Carolina Cury and Sonic Artist and guitarist Konstantinos Damianakis. It is inspired by the book ‘Invisible Cities’ (1972)

by Italo Calvino (1923-1985). In it he makes the reader rethink many pretty much well-established concepts- chaptering standards in books, what is spoken language intended for, why do we travel... He creates a space for adults to fantasise, places where everyday rules are forgotten and regular processes of our world do not take place.

This piece tries to convey in musical texture or structure the ideas, actions or landscapes of some of the cities. Approaches chosen by the composer are subjectively thought of as architectural- the music is built angularly, from cells or certain intervals. Pitch and harmony are a result of rather strict adherence to set rules in manipulating the theme. Variations provide diversity- sounding as well as performative- different modes of playing are employed throughout.

-Premiered on 21 June 2022, at Old Royal Naval College, London as part of the 2022 New Lights Festival -winning entry of the 2022 John Halford Prize Piano and Composition competition

Requirements This piece requires a laptop with Cycling’74 Max, a sound interface, control interface (MIDI pad, keyboard), external PA, phone with a motion-tracking app, vocal microphone, contact microphone, any cables needed to connect microphones and a stopwatch.

The symbol notes a change of parameters inside Max, as variations require different settings. Assign this symbol to a key on the control interface, keep in mind that it needs to be accessible during the performance.

Leonia This city refashions itself every day. This does not come without a price- beyond its walls, piles of refused porcelain, sheets, wrappers, boilers, encyclopedias and other refuse are slowly growing. The larger it grows, the more the danger of a landslide looms. A mere tin can bring the destruction of Leonia under the avalanche of expelled goods.

The electronics part in this variation is formed from pre-recorded material of variation Baucis and the sung theme. It is dismembered, retuned and processed to then create a texture of nonsensical material.

Accidentals in this variation are only valid for the respective notes.

Zobeide The city of Zobeide is built in resemblance to dreams of men living in it or visiting it. In these dreams, they chase a beautiful woman which always manages to escape. After they wake up, in search of this woman, they recreate scenes of the chase, hoping they could get to find her.

However, streets always end in weird places and cross over themselves like a skein.

In this variation, the task of the performer is to accompany a vocal line that surfaces three times. It offers raw material of 4ths, 5ths or 7ths and some ‘faulty bricks’ with which the performer builds an accompaniment to the voice.

The voice line is a manipulated theme, sounding male and is played back as a tape.

Armilla Armilla is a city where walls and floors do not exist. Instead, its structure is made from plumbing items such as pipes, sewers, sinks and bathtubs suspended in the air. This angular, geometric city is inhabited by nymphs that sing while luxuriating in their showers.

This variation combines a processed voice theme which offers eerie, echoed song and piano fragments which are meant to represent intersecting plumbing. Song reacts to the movement of the performer’s hand.

Zaira This city can not be described by how it looks.

Instead, Marco Polo chooses to describe it in relation to events of its past. Past dominates the present, past is why actions happen. Every object, person contains its past as an inherent virtue, it does not need to tell it as everything, that has led to the current moment, is demonstrated at the moment itself.

In this variation, the performer tapes a contact microphone to the piano and performs one chord from which a musical texture is built using algorithmic processing.

Baucis As you arrive at the place where Baucis should be located, you can only see slender ladders and poles reaching the clouds. The city itself is suspended high above the ground, and there are three hypotheses about its inhabitants- either they hate the earth, or they respect it so much they avoid all contact, or that they love it as it was before they existed and so they are obsessed with looking down using spyglasses, contemplating their own absence.

This variation requires the performer to pre-record the material before the performance. Then, it is played back and the performer acts as if playing it live.

Variation is created using rising intervals, alluding to ladders and poles of Baucis.

Zenobia If you ask an inhabitant of Zenobia, what is his idea of a happy life, their reply would always be ‘a city like Zenobia.’ Zenobia is a great and beautiful city in all aspects, however, because hearing the same answer over and over, it is pointless to try to decide whether Zenobia is actually a happy place. Instead, he tries to find out whether Zenobia gives form to desires or whether desires erase the city or are erased by it.

Towards the end, we have arrived at a piece of music upon which the variations are based, similarly to readers realising that the cities described in the book are actually based on one city- the city of Venice.

The vocal line of the theme is written to be rather ambiguous. It can be beautiful, if you choose to think that it is, it can provide musical enjoyment, behave in line with certain expectations, or quite the opposite.

Movement Legend This work employs following symbols as prompts for movement which is picked up by the motion tracker. There is no rule specifying which arm should wear the motion tracker.

Upper arm in line with shoulders. Elbow in 90º, palm of hand directing downwards.

Upper arm in line with shoulders. Elbow in 90º, palm of hand directing upwards.

Continuous wave-like lift of the arm up to breast level.

Continuous lift of the whole arm above head.

Continuous horizontal extension of the whole arm outwards from the body.

Abruptly stretching the arm up, as if drowning.

Crossing the arm on the chest, leaning the palm of the hand on the shoulder.

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Variation II | Zaira Motion tracking is off.

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13 May 2022 London, UK