Die Seherinnen : Jeff / Johanna's Flamenco - Excerpt

Johanna Vargas, soprano
Ensemble Linea
Carolina Santiago Martinez, piano
Keiko Murakami, flute contrebasse
Louis Siracusa, double bass
Jean-Philippe Würtz, conductor

IV. Gradual Abruptness
ooo –– ooo –– oo –– o 
gradual abruptness 
french 		(mr., rhythm acuto intros.) 
ital 		(riposante musica, ritmo meno acuto, adattabile)   
                 o                   –– 
non avete da mostrarmi un’altra macchina? (repeat rhythm) 

[…]

(– oooooooo – )

[…]

tu pensi:   
 –  o o  –  o o o  – o o o  –  o 
ha una macchina ancora da mostrarmi? 

Un poco di buon ordine feroce
Aspettare in tempo

	Évidemment

		si tu ne peux
Poétiser
	il te faudra
Cohabiter
Rime e accenti allineati
Évidemment 
Si tu ne peux
		analyser
Il te faudra
		coaliser
Io vado di solito a letto alle undici
o – o o – o o – oo – oo
La poésie du succès 
Le succès du sexu

Bisogna sfruttare i buoni momenti
o – oo – oo – oo – o
– o oo – o ooooo –

Autumn is a season of which I am very fond [about]

Regarde
Au moins
Ce qui est
Écrit
Sur le bout
De ta langue chérie
In nous faudra
Que tu y vas
(synthèse-douleur)
tu parles en prose  

V. Allons, plongeons
Allons, plongeons dans le réel (il le faut)
l’Esthétique Jaune dans son lit de Mort 
l’Esthétique Jeune dans son Lit Subtil
ou bien  
Nous sommes 
[dans son lit de la mort subtile
dans le lit de son jeune mort
dans la mort du lit du son
dans le son subtil de la jeune mort] 
 
(dans la gaze de la réalité). 
Nous passons dans la gaze du réel. 
Arrive l’enfer. L’impératif 
de la[…]
[…]réalité
(nous sommes en communication).

4. Gradual Abruptness 5. Allons, plongeon

Johanna Vargas, soprano
Ensemble Linea
Carolina Santiago Martinez, piano
Keiko Murakami, flute contrebasse
Louis Siracusa, double bass
Jean-Philippe Würtz, conductor

III. Privé d’Oxygène

Il nous faudrait de l’or il nous faudrait de très grandes 
tasses d’argent 
avec lesquelles suivre 
notre démon pauvre. Où aller où aller, 
quelles marines faut-il flairer de ses narines deçues? 
privées d’oxygène (suspension) 
			Où aller où aller 
quelles narines faut-il flairer 
	de ses narines deçues

 	(privées d’oxygene)  
les arbres penchus-misère. Misère qui te traine au fond de la chambre, qui te traine dans 
te[s] vieilles pantoufles cousues.
 
Prose si puissamment brouillée 

le faux ban-lieu 

il nous faudra aller-voir les arbres aux longues racines…

irez-vouz voir ecc. 
irez-vouz voir les arbres aux longues racines? 
oui j’irai voir les arbres aux longues racines
	multipliées 
	multi-pliés 
     par un excess de sec (eccess de                  
	 	 ( sex ) 
 [Doute de l’Incertitude]             
			tute 
		de l’in cert ti     
			doute 
		de l’un cerf qui     
			doute 
			Serf s’y 
				boute 
                 
[…]

c’est un fruit (prix) 
	puit 
	poire 
qui vole au vent  
aux quatre directions du volant 
		c’est un puit 
		c’est un impuissant 
			un puis sant 
			un puis (peu) 
				un puissant 
sans direction   
   
  		sans 
	        illusions.

3. Privée d'oxygéne

Johanna Vargas, soprano
Ensemble Linea 
Carolina Santiago Martinez, piano
Keiko Murakami, flute contrebasse
Louis Siracusa, double bass
Jean-Philippe Würtz, conductor

II. Se sinistramente 

Se sinistramente, ti vidi
Apparire, come un sole nero
La tua biondezza, e il sole
Recuperava tutto - o quasi
Il tutto che in te trovai…
Un tutto che è mascherata
Un tutto che è bisogno: semmai
Era anche disperante, ritrovarsi
Tali e quali all’adolescente
Che mai crebbe: un sentimento 
Di devozione, è tutto ciò 
Che m’adombra… nell’ammiccare
Per una fiotta di baci che
Mai desti, né darai ora che
So quanto luminosa era per
Me la tua figura sfocatamente
Giustiziera, e lo spirito che
Tramortendo la vita che
Come sempre, scartando le
Molte speranze s’annunciava
già pronta a rinunciare, magari
Morendo nello sforzo di non 
Distinguere tra te e il male…
Però questa ennesima volta
Veramente hai saputo riconoscerla
Come tale. Butti via le speranze
Non sono altro che una fiotta 
di baci ingenui e semplici
Mentre nel male il vivere
Si fa complesso, e ardendo
D’un nulla che è tutto il
Mio pieno, la mia bislacca
Vita in un mercato che ha
Anch’esso il suo destinato
Amore di copulazione, si farebbe
Come tale la vuoi, disdegnando
D’insegnarmela!

2. Se Sinistramente

Johanna Vargas, soprano
Ensemble Linea 
Carolina Santiago Martinez, piano
Keiko Murakami, flute contrebasse
Louis Siracusa, double bass
Jean-Philippe Würtz, conductor


I. L’impératif 

L’émanation suggestive de la gaze mouillée 
L'impératif dans son nod de cravate 
Chasteté

1. L'impératif

In [Stoccata the pianist is engaged in a two-hand (and forearm) music duel. The wordplay in the title refers to the Italian word "Stoccata" (namely, a thrust in a fencing game duel) and the genre of the "Toccata". 

 * * * *
In [S]toccata, wird die Pianist*in zu einem Musikduell zwischen den beiden Händen (und Unterarmen) herausgefordert. Das Wortspiel im Titel bezieht sich auf den italienischen Begriff „Stoccata“ (nämlich einen Stoß in einem Fechtduell) und „Toccata”.

[S]toccata (2019) for piano solo - Jana Luksts - Stuttgart HMDK Werkstatt Festival

Ensemble Ascolta
Der Sommer in Stuttgart Musik Festival
Stuttgart / Theaterhaus 
21.07.2019

E-Guitar : Hubert Steiner
Trumpet : Markus Schwind
Trombone : Andrew Digby
Cello : Erik Borgir
Piano : Felix Nagl
Percussions : Boris Müller, Lucas Gerin
Conductor : Christof M. Löser

****
Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget 
What thou among the leaves hast never known,
The weariness, the fever, and the fret…

"Ode to a Nightingale”, John Keats


Photo ©  Berenice Abbott - Interference of Waves (1958-61)

The Consequent Being (2019) for E-Guitar and ensemble

Chantier. 

L’encre bleue du chantier la nuit est enduit, saturé, lumineux. Des parpaings en béton matifiés en plastic rouge-blanc marquent l’entrée. L’enceinte grillagée les bacs à ciments les bâches une flaque d’eau les machines à l’arrêt. Les hommes avancent leurs casques jaunes est bleu, est blanc, leur combi est leur gilet phosphorescent leurs bottes. Regardent les papiers, le métal est sale sont torse-nu, la poussière est partout le ciel est blanc. 

Jérôme Game, DQ/HK (2013)

*********

Trois espaces coexistent, où des sons de synthèse, les bruits d'un chantier et la voix transformée en un chœur de machines lentes placent l'auditeur dans un paysage sonore multidimensionnel, où la voix est fusionnée et absorbée par le paysage, évoquant les images synesthésiques suggérées par le texte de Jérôme Game.

Photo ©Liam Wong

Chantier, sur une texte de Jérôme Game (2020)

I Sing the Body Electric (2020)
by Claudia Jane Scroccaro
Florentin Ginot, double bass
Claudia Jane Scroccaro, live electronics
Arnaud De la Celle, sound engineer
Mikhail Malt, Encadrement Pédagogique

Recorded the 1st of July 2020 in the Grand Salle du Centre Pompidou
Manifeste Festival 2020 - IRCAM, Paris

I sing the body electric (2020) for Double Bass and Electronics - Florentin Ginot

Claudia Jane Scroccaro - Overdrive (2020) 

Ensemble Musikfabrik
Carl Rosman, Bass Clarinet
Ulrich Löffler, Piano
Florentin Ginot, Double Bass

Rie Watanabe, condutor


Recorded live on the 6th of September 2020
Réfectoire des moines - Abbaye de Royaumont 

Lauréat de la Fondation Royaumont
Œuvre écrite dans le cadre de l’Académie Voix Nouvelles 2020

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

Overdrive refers to the fuzzy and growly tone, produced by distortion in audio signal processing, often associated to electric instruments and mostly heard in Blues, Rock and Punk music. In my latest works I’ve been intrigued by bringing to the foreground the physical tension existing between the musician’s body and the body of his/her own instrument, in the act of playing, which is determined by the nature and production of specific sounds, like microtonal oscillations, capable to project the listener in immersive spaces and ever-changing spectra. In Overdrive, the necessity to enhance the energy and sonic (at)tension existing among three musicians confronted with such large instruments, able to produce very low frequencies, determined some extreme sonic and instrumental research together with the members of Musikfabrik, moving some steps forward, by bringing the consequences of this reflection over its limits.

Overdrive (2020) for Bass Clarinet, Double Bass, Piano

I am an Italian composer based in Paris, where I teach electronic music at IRCAM. 

In a constant pursuit of a theatrical dramatization of sound, I am deeply interested in electronic music, music of oral tradition and, for their physical presence and sonic qualities, bass instruments. By delving into the physical connection between the musician and the large instrument, I aim to transport listeners into visually engaging compositions, where micro-rhythms and grooves hold a central role. One of my main concerns is represented by an effort to develop structures based on techniques used for sound synthesis and electronic treatments. More generically it reveals my lifelong compositional aim: that is to attain a consistency between the approach in composing for instruments as well as for electronics, an approach that I attempt to integrate and structure through computer-aided composition tools that I personally develop. 

Raised in the "Pasolinian" working-class neighborhoods in the West side of Rome, and having spent most of my adolescence in direct contact with the street, I have always been drawn to the poetic violence of this reality. The tension between a personal inclination for introspection and a life deeply entrenched in a vibrant, yet challenging, urban environment has been a constant companion, shaping and defining my creative persona. 

In my music, this tension gives rise to a dramaturgy that oscillates between two extreme temporalities, leading to a dynamic interplay between kaleidoscopic movements and introspective explorations. One is tethered to overwhelming, vertiginous, overflowing, and compulsive rhythms, while the other is more intimate, poetic, and intertwined with the expressivity of the spoken word – like in the song cycle Gradual Abruptness (2022), on the verses of the Italian poet Amelia Rosselli (daughter of the anti-fascist partisan Carlo Rosselli).

These axes of research find contrasting artistic declinations, leading to the composition of [S]toccata (2019) and High Voltage Toccata (2021), – where the pianist and organist are challenged in a body duel with the instrument  – of I Sing the Body Electric (2020) – where the double bass becomes one organic body with the musician and with the electronics – in Overdrive (2020), a low-frequency trio, transposed into a distorted and paroxysmic world – or, again, in Lignes à Haute Tension (2023) for 12 spatialised cellos ¬– where the conductor, in the center of a network of instruments, controlling the trajectories of sound in space. 

Ongoing Projects :
On the Edge, for 6 soloists choir and electronics
Texts by Mina Loy
Premiere : SWR Vokalensemble / Donaueschinger Musiktage (Donaueschingen, DE) / 2024

Espaces Blancs, for soprano, clarinet, trumpet, double bass and electronics
Premiere : Commande d'État : Mathilde Barthelemy / Compagnie Angle Aigu / GMEM / Festival Propagations
(Marseille, FR) / 2025

Faro, for soprano, ensemble and electronics
Johanna Vargas / Ensemble Musikfabrik / Festival ManiFeste / IRCAM (Paris, FR) / 2025

For this project I have been selected as one of the 2024-25 Villa Medici Residents

cjscroccaro

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