Biennale Snapshots
Work Overview
Instrumentation: full orchestra
Commission: Vancouver Biennale, in celebration of the 2014–16 Open Air Museum installations, with partial funding from the Canada Council for the Arts and the Buschlen Mowatt Nichol Foundation (Canada)
Premiere: Vancouver Symphony Orchestra, Bramwell Tovey, conductor, season-opening concerts, September 26 and 28, 2015. Orpheum Theatre, Vancouver, Canada
Duration: ca. 23 minutes
Instrumentation
3 Flutes (3rd doubling Piccolo), 3 Oboes (3rd doubling English Horn), 3 Clarinets in B♭ (2nd doubling Clarinet in E♭; 3rd doubling Bass Clarinet), 3 Bassoons (3rd doubling Contrabassoon), 4 French Horns, 3 Trumpets in C, 2 Tenor Trombones, 1 Bass Trombone, Tuba, Timpani, 3 Percussion, Marimba, Xylophone, Glockenspiel, 2 Crotales – D and E♭, Low Water Gong, Tam-tam, Snare Drum, Tenor Drum, Bass Drum, Tambourine, 2 Wood Blocks, 2 Cowbells, Slapstick, Rain Stick, Gourd Maracas, Plastic Maracas, Finger Cymbals, Small Triangle, Sheets of Loose Paper, 3 Wine Glasses – tuned to D♭, F, and G♭, Tree Branches (to be played on bass drum), Harp, Piano, Strings (at least 12,10,8,7,6)
* In addition – each member of the orchestra needs one sheet of loose 8.5” x 11” paper for mm. 83–87 of movement 2.
Movements
In five movements. Movements 1 and 2 are performed without pause.
Breath Song (inspired by Sumakshi Singh’s Breath Song) approx. 2 mins.
Tree (inspired by Konstantin Dimopoulos’s Blue Trees) approx. 6 mins.
Graffiti Mashup (inspired by OSGEMEOS’s Giants) approx. 7 mins.
Interludium: Water Rising (inspired by Ren Jun’s Water #10) approx. 3 mins.
Grass (inspired by Ai Weiwei’s F Grass) approx. 5 mins.
Program Note
Biennale Snapshots celebrates the Vancouver Biennale’s 2014 – 2016 Open Air Museum installations and is the first musical composition to be commissioned by the Biennale. The twenty-five-minute work is set in five movements, the first and second of which are played without pause. I chose to pay homage to the Biennale by selecting five different artworks from the exhibition and having each movement be my musical “snapshot” of the visual piece, allowing the visual to inspire the aural.
1) Breath Song
The work starts with “Breath Song,” inspired by Sumakshi Singh’s work, originally described as a “symphony of 108 breath sounds.” I have taken just a few of the breath phrases and magnified them for orchestra, so that the entire movement comprises whispers, breathing into certain instruments, and other ambient sounds reflecting the ephemeral nature of the original.
BREATH SONG, created by Vancouver Biennale 2014 Residency Artist Sumakshi Singh from New Delhi, India, was a performative work composed of a symphony of 108 breath sounds specific to and recorded in Squamish, British Columbia, and accompanied by a video projected on a transparent screen placed in nature. The video displayed words related to breath (chosen by 108 participants) created from the condensation of their breath vapours on glass and appearing in a poetic sequence. In this work, Singh explored breath as a subtle border, a transparent veil moving between the physical and astral world, the thread tying the spirit to the body. Bringing together 108 breaths, BREATH SONG created a borderless space where one could experience existential unity. More information about this artwork.
2) Tree
“Breath Song” leads directly into “Tree,” inspired by The Blue Trees of Konstantin Dimopoulos. “Tree” starts off quietly and gently but gradually builds into large waves of sounds that weave in and out of each other. The second half of the movement grows more violent, reflecting the urgency of Dimopoulos’s mission to bring awareness of global deforestation through his artwork.
THE BLUE TREES, by Australian artist Konstantin Dimopoulos, is a global environmental art project launched during the 2009 – 2011 Vancouver Biennale in three local cities – Richmond, West Vancouver, and Port Moody. Subsequently, the artist has expanded this project to eleven cities internationally. THE BLUE TREES is an example of a local initiative gone global, an example of how art can be a catalyst for learning and community engagement. THE BLUE TREES transforms the familiar urban landscape into something surreal or unfamiliar. The intentional transformation of the everyday stimulates dialogue and raises our environmental consciousness by highlighting trees and their importance as lungs of the Earth. In 2015, THE BLUE TREES installation will be created in New Westminster, Squamish, and at the launch of Simons West Coast flagship department store in West Vancouver. More information about this artwork.
3) Graffiti Mashup
The third movement, “Graffiti Mashup,” pays homage to OSGEMEOS’s Giants. The movement is a mashup of different musical elements that underlie the colorful street art – quotations of two Brazilian Tropicalia songs, references to hip-hop beats and licks; in general, a rhythmically robust movement. This music is loud, in-your-face, and chaotic – like a hip-hop version of Charles Ives – with elements gradually colliding with each other into a wonderful mess, creating a crazy club-like atmosphere for the orchestra.
GIANTS is the largest and first 360-degree mural created by the internationally renowned Brazilian street artists OSGEMEOS. The brightly coloured seventy-foot-tall mural has transformed the six industrial silos at the Ocean Concrete plant on Granville Island and has quickly become one of the iconic landmarks in a city skyline filled with glass and concrete architecture. The mural has become a focal point for the over ten million annual visitors to Granville Island and is now an undeniable icon of the city. More information about this artwork.
4) Interludium: Water Rising
The fourth movement, labeled “Interludium: Water Rising,” is a short movement that reflects the undulating waves and curves of Ren Jun’s Water #10 sculpture. The beginning is orchestrated to simulate waves flowing in and out, gradually building into lush chords for the entire orchestra. The sound then ascends, all in one gesture from the very bottom to the top, in one big current that ends with the arrival of water gongs.
WATER #10 is a 16-meter-tall stainless-steel sculpture by the Chinese artist Ren Jun. The inspiration for this artwork comes from pure forms: liquid water or mercury stopped in motion that reveals its shape as a drop or spill caught in the air. Despite its 2100-kg weight this work has no angles or hard edges, resulting in a free-flowing form, a manifestation of light and fluidity. This artwork was exhibited during the 2009 – 2011 Vancouver Biennale in Richmond, British Columbia and subsequently has become a permanent Legacy Artwork through a private donation. More information about this artwork.
5) Grass
The last movement, “Grass,” reveals the defiant nature of Ai Weiwei’s F Grass. It features loud low bass pedal tones in the brass, counteracted by high, nasal woodwinds. A militaristic fanfare atmosphere is complemented by fast virtuosic passages for strings and woodwinds, releasing the also fleeting and whimsical nature of Ai Weiwei’s work. All elements collide at the end, creating a triumphant close to the piece.
Ai Weiwei is one of the leading artists and cultural figures of our time and consistently displays great courage in placing himself at risk to effect social change through his art. F GRASS is a site-specific installation created for the 2014 – 2016 Vancouver Biennale. The 1,328 interconnected “grass” pieces symbolize the collective and indestructible strength and resilience of ordinary individuals whose unified mass challenges censorship and oppression in China. Inspired by the organic form and fragile beauty of grass, Ai Weiwei created F GRASS using cast iron, an industrial material that will be transformed via exposure to nature throughout all seasons. More information about this artwork.
The Vancouver Biennale is a non-profit charitable organization that celebrates art in public spaces, creating a catalyst for learning, community engagement, and social action. The 2014 – 2016 Vancouver Biennale features diverse works by established and breakthrough international artists in keeping with the exhibition theme Open Borders / Crossroads Vancouver.
* italicized paragraphs are courtesy of the Vancouver Biennale
Purchase or Rent This Work
Study score available for purchase; parts available for rental. Please contact Bill Holab Music for a rental quote.
Errata List
Artists are welcome to contribute any errors or notes for this work on our collaborative errata list.