Vaisseau Fantôme
This piece is a phantom vessel for any identity we consciously or unconsciously place in it. On a western audience, it is likely to imprint contradictory “semantics” of sonic patterns and was inspired by the unresolved conflict between distinctive musical identities.
On my end, it is a conscious exploration of three idioms (contemporary western art music, tonal -baroque and classical- music, free jazz) within a frame of glissading microtones and their many interactions with a melodic line by saxophonist Ornette Coleman (excerpt transcribed from his album “Free Jazz” for double quartet.)
The race between rhythmic pulse and our impulse to group the above within musical phrases is pointless. The frequent shift of compositional attention from melodic cells (horizontal axis) to harmonic procedures (vertical) blurs our conditioned perception. The omnipresent microtonal sliding and oscillation insists on its own message. The alternation of free jazz and western art music elements adds a layer of complexity. What do we ultimately hear? Although any attentive listener is bound to attempt to categorize it, there is no answer; it is a phantom vessel that we ourselves create.
I would like to express my gratitude to the iconic Francisco Ledesma for his painting Buque Fantasma inspired by Vaisseau Fantôme, commissioned by Niki Harlafti and dedicated to both the composer and ~Nois.
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Performers: ~Nois
Artwork: “Buque Fantasma” | Francisco Ledesma
Video for Live Performance: Sophie Gordon
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