si ambulem…
.30 wandering voices. Ruins of the monastery of San Pedro de Eslonza (León)
Formation: ≈30 mixed voices
Creation: april-june 2023
Duration: 50 min.
Premiere: 17-6-2023. Sand Pedro de Eslonza Monastery Ruins (León/Spain)
In our image oriented society, we usually experience places and things in general through our eyes and the rapid and ephemere look imposed by the surrounding acceleration.
In this project, we pose an invitation to the slow listening of a place: the ruins of the Monastery of San Pedro de Eslonza y León, Spain. A group of around 30 voices wander through the remainings of its different spaces and rooms using their own walking and the place’s topography as musical and performative material, as the real score for the piece. The gregorian gradual “si ambulem” and its later polyphonic setting by Johannes Ockeghem will generate the main sound and music material, oscillating from situations of singing together to situations of singing and wandering alone. The visitors will also be invited to abandon the usual rapid look to deepen into the place and its memory through their own walking and wandering.