Telluric Currents: Caspian Retreat (2003) 10’30
This is the first of three pieces, inspired by oceanic mythology from Persia, India and Europe. Caspian Retreat explores the beauty and complexities of contemporary life in a land steeped in ancient art, culture and music; a land rich in colour, smell and sound.
Using recordings I collected from the Caspian Sea and the city of Tehran, Iran, Caspian Retreat journeys into the mysticism of ancient and modern Persia........
retreat v.1 a intr. (esp. of military forces) go back, retire; relinquish a position b tr. cause to retreat; move back. 2 intr. (esp. of features) recede. n. 1a the act or instance of retreating. b Mil. a signal for this. 2 withdrawal into privacy or security. 3 a place of shelter or seclusion. 4 a period of seclusion for prayer and meditation. 5 Mil. a bugle call at sunset. [from Latin retrahere ‘to draw back’]
Caspian Retreat was written at a time when Iran was announced by Bush to be one of three countries on the ‘axis of evil’.
This piece was made possible with funds from the Scottish Arts Council and composed in the studios at the University of Edinburgh.
Further
thoughts.....
Caspian
Retreat (2002), Voyage (2003) and Kamala Kantha (2003) comprise a
suite of pieces inspired by water mythology from Persia, Europe and
India
under the title Telluric Currents, commissioned by the Scottish Arts
Council. Each piece explores the nature and characteristics of ancient
civilisation, myths and legends, culture and landscape. All three
pieces are connected by the theme of water, although the characteristics
of
the water source recordings vary greatly. Caspian Retreat uses a
selection of intimately recorded gentle ripples and waves from lakes
and seas;
Voyage uses sources from beautifully crafted glass bowls played in
and out of water and a hydrophone recording of orca whales; and Kamala
Kantha uses a recording of a boatman singing on a lake in India.
My intention was to move away from text material, and because of
this
conscious decision I believe Voyage is my most ‘abstract’ work
to date (even though there are moments of processed vocal material
within).
Caspian Retreat was written at a time when Iran was announced by
Bush to be one of three countries on the 'axis of evil'. It explores
the
beauty and complexities of contemporary life in a land steeped in
ancient art, culture and music; a land rich in colour, smell and
sound. The
aim was to present a cinematic journey into the mysticism of ancient
and modern Persia using recordings from the Caspian Sea and the city
of Tehran. The piece is structured around a single, unaltered recording
in Tehran of two different Ezans, or calls to prayer, playing simultaneously
over two street loudspeakers, one nearby, one distant. A man in a
parked car saw we were recording and turned up the radio broadcast
of the
first and nearer Ezan, extraordinarily, right at the highest emotional
point of the singing. In the ‘shadows’ of this recording
are cars passing in waves, each old car with its unique sound (unlike
modern cars), with sonic characteristics not dissimilar to water waves.
Water and oil (or engine sounds) became the driving force for the opening
section. Waves are punctuated by shadows of engine swells, and after
the wave of emotion in the Mullah’s singing, a car passing
punctuated by a sea wave, takes the listener into a new, slightly
unreal water
space with a newly exposed engine undercurrent.
