Based on a sound source of alpine bells recorded by my ex - girlfriend (significant information since I promised that I would use this clip in a piece)It was captured on an iPhone 5c and is a "dirty" recording, lo quality and with wind noise.  I've embraced all that as is the nature of experimental music, finding beauty in the "flawed",

I wrote a short text to signify and symbolise the start of a relationship which has come to its "fade out"

The photograph, from 17 September 2019 has rough notes about how I might use the recording, here listed as Nubia's cow bells.. As can be seen, I had considered using other recordings such as monastery bells ( a carillon) from within the Arctic Circle, but, in the end, they were enough on their own.

She Gave Me Bells

"Nine to five to Paradise" gets its name from the Turin Metro station Paradiso; the 30 second recording upon which this piece is based was recorded as the metro arrived at the station of Paradiso. This 14 minute piece uses only sounds from that recording, including fragments of the bells and female voice announcing the station. All the sounds were treated using a digital audio workstation. Since I had worked on Musique Concrète in the seventies using magnetic tape, splicing and mixing and processing with the then new and innovative EMS VS1 synth, I was able to emulate these techniques with the computer software.

Nine To Five to Paradise

Cancun Airport, 30th June 2021, two women are saying goodbye to each other as each goes their own way. Sad but it happens all the time, almost anywhere.  A memory, in the form of a quote from Juliet about parting...

and that was the last time I saw her

A study in creating a Drone 9th chord: low; low + 8, low +8 +5; low +8 +5 +9

Etude on a drone 9 Chord

This is draft* of  a new work based on a short passage from "The Book of Tea" by Okakura Kakuzō (1906). This passage reads: 

The afternoon glow is brightening the bamboo
The fountains are bubbling with delight
The soughing of the pines is heard in our kettle
Let us dream of evanescence and linger in 
The beautiful foolishness of things

This is not a strict sonic representation of the text, it is what the narrative suggested to me and how I chose to interpret it.  Once the composition process begins, it assumes a life of its own

My favourite moment is at 9’ : 44” 

Though not done consciously, moments remind me of the composers that I have learned about in the past.  Eliane Radigue has been an inspiration throughout and a spur to finding new ways of expressing the drones in the work.  Other notable composers I found in the piece are: Benjamin Britten who gave me high violin harmonics, Béla Bartók who gave me a rhythm, John Cage who gave me space  and silence; Claude Debussy who gave me a scale; Henryk Górecki who gave me gravity.

Bamboo: the foolishness of things

This piece started as a study in feedback.  As I started, i sat quietly and improvised some thoughts on a recurring dream I've been having for many years. With a loved one who disappears in a strange house and as I try in vain to reach her, the house gradually collapses around me, thereby  creating an inseparable divide which is both physical and emotional.

All the sounds were improvised; the voice has a particularly raw sound as it represents for me the anxiety of battling against the crumbling edifice alongside the pain of separation.  Once the piece had taken form, rather like a sculptor with a block of marble, I gradually chipped away at it to reveal thoughts and emotions inside.  Since this is based on a recurrent dream, the few words used are repeated as every part of the house breaks.


Esta pieza comenzó como un estudio de retroalimentación.  Al empezar, me senté en silencio e improvisé algunos pensamientos sobre un sueño recurrente que tengo desde hace muchos años. Con un ser querido que desaparece en una casa extraña y mientras intento en vano llegar hasta ella, la casa se derrumba poco a poco a mi alrededor, creando así una división inseparable que es a la vez física y emocional.

Todos los sonidos fueron improvisados; la voz tiene un sonido especialmente crudo, ya que representa para mí la ansiedad de luchar contra el edificio que se derrumba junto con el dolor de la separación.  Una vez que la pieza tomó forma, como un escultor con un bloque de mármol, la fui desgastando poco a poco para revelar pensamientos y emociones en su interior.  Como se basa en un sueño recurrente, las pocas palabras utilizadas se repiten a medida que cada parte de la casa se rompe.

Debris Of A Night

cancion 1 sin etiqueta
This is the first of six. They came from my desire to write short pieces based around a particular
sound theme. I remembered that Webern's six bagatelles were very short and so ideas revolve
around serialism, but not based solely on notes.
There are two main sound sources: a kind of Cantus fermus based on a 13th chord, but with no
3rds, this reminded me a little of Pérotin of the Notre Dame school around the 13th century, and
sounds processed through a spectral filter. Since it is not specifically about mujeres rebeldes, it is sin etiqueta.

Canción 1: Sin Etiqueta

cancion 2 hamideh shining warrior
And because women bring their radicalism to the uprising, it can be said that a
government can still hope to get away with it when only men are in the streets, but when
women come out en masse, that government is finished.
Rossana Rossanda, from 'Le altre',Manifestolibri 2021
This is the second of my canciones and, the inspiration for this one and the following two is the
feminist sisterhood of Iranian women here in Italy. Young women struggling to find ways to lend
the fight to the women of Iran. Each inspiration was almost instant: their characters were so
strong, and our first conversations suggested who they are; but to be clear the artistic
interpretation is mine. They are uniquely who they always were, they simply gave me a reason to
compose.
Hamideh struck me as a bright and sparky young woman, full of energy and willing to stand up
for a woman's rights to freedom from oppression, and self-determination and yet she was
personable and funny.
She is one of the shining warriors who will bring: truth...justice...freedom...equality, and above all...peace to Iran.
Jin Jiyan Azadi

Cancion 2: Hamideh shining warrior

Cancion 3. foruz la curandera
This one again was inspired by my Iranian sisters here in Italy . As I met each one, I fairly quickly
felt a sympathetic response and my artistic response was that of a very calm and caring person
which reminded me of Maria Sabine who had been referred to as 'La Curandera'...the healer. It
was a small leap of imagination to see Foruz in the role of healer and balm for her sisters of Iran.
The music is more transparent and minimalist than usual and it ended up as a process of taking
away anything that got in the way of her spirit shining through.
I also felt that to have Foruz read the texts, gives the piece its authenticity and I was also
pleased to find a recording of the Pallid Scops Owl, recorded by Ali Mousavi at around 9 in the
evening in South Khorsan Province, Iran. You can hear its entrance at 1':42" to the left of the
stereo field.
lyrics
Cure yourself with the light of the sun and the rays of the moon...
With the sound of the river and the waterfall. With the swaying of the sea and the fluttering of
birds...
Heal yourself with the kisses that the wind gives you and the hugs of the rain...
Jump, dance, sing, so that you live happier...
Heal yourself, with beautiful love, and always remember: you are the medicine...
Put love in tea instead of sugar, and take it looking at the stars...
credits
extracts of poem by Maria Sabine: Shaman and healer from Oaxaca, México, translated into
English, and read by Foruz Faraji.
Extract of electroacoustic piece by Halim El-Dabh, recorded on wire, Cairo (1944) (accompanying the opening violins)
Owl recording: Ali Mousavi, XC708432. Accessible at www.xeno-canto.org/708432

Cancion 3: Foruz la curandera

cancion 4. Azam Mother of Persia
This is the final track of the Iran trilogy where each piece is based on my artistic interpretation of
three courageous Iranian women who, despite being estranged from their homeland, are part
of the Iranian diaspora, sending love and solidarity to their sisters who risk their lives daily for
the rights of women.
Azam is both a mother and an activist and her dream is that one day, she can return to a
peaceful and free Iran with her child. These thoughts and my impression of Azam were the
catalysts which gave rise to this piece of sound art.
On a technical note: the piano melodies are my transliteration of the Kurdish script of Jin, Jiyan,
Azadi, now tattooed on my back. You hear them first in counterpoint and later as the individual
words. So, my commitment to this important sound art comes from me: body and soul.
Towards the end of this piece, I wanted to suggest the idea of peace in Iran by symbolising the
rose garden through the sonic representations of birds and children playing. Although not
necessarily discernible, the bird sounds are an Ocarina player here in Morelia who was playing
in one of the squares; and the children playing unites where I had come from, Torino in Italy and
where I live now, Morelia, Michoacán and also symbolically that children are children from
wherever they are. The children I recorded playing in my courtyard in Turin were all Arab
children, part of a sizeable community in Torino.
***********************************
Lyrics
In the midst of chaos and bloodshed, love has a rose garden
Take the thorn of existence from your heart
So that you may see the rose garden within.
***************************
En medio del caos y el derramamiento de sangre,
El amor tiene un jardín de rosas.
Saca la espina de la existencia de tu corazón
Para que puedas ver el jardín (de rosas) que hay dentro de ti.
credits
Words of love and courage for a valiant Iran. by Jalal al-din Muhsmmad Rumi, translated into English and read by: Foruz Faraji

Cancion 4: Azam mother of Persia

cancion 6: el amor crecerá
This last piece is more than twice the length of the previous piece. Not intentional, but
everything is slow moving and needed its time to evolve. The piece evolved from my own
experience of personal growth after feelings of loss and despair. It started as lamentations of
feeling marginalized, invisible and an Outsider (thank you Audre Lorde) but the last third was
inspired by a certain short period where I started healing and thinking of the child inside and
this section tries to represent a vision I had while exercising: eyes closed, in a dark but warm
space and I realized that this was where the child would rebuild her life, brick by brick but it
would be her life not one related to the past or to anyone else. This image and experience is
played out in the final section where I try to create a sonic version of the space I envisaged and
the text, part of a poem by Mary Oliver, The Journey, speaks to this experience.
So, if that was the artistic impulse, past composers have influenced me: Iannis Xenakis for the
tortuous glissandi of the opening though but I also felt the presence of Mahler’s Ninth. The
middle section is the most tortured part of the piece, and the gradual crescendo of the crickets
represents a state of mind which bears the mental suffering cutting through everything else.
But…
the new title reflects leaving behind victimhood and embracing growth. So, it is ‘el amor
crecerá’.
lyrics
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.
The first three were created in Turin, Italy and the last three, here in México.
Special thanks to the 'Centro Mexicana para la Música y las Artes Sonoras' for the residency allowing me to complete and master these works.
https://www.cmmas.org

cancion 6: el amor crecerá
Esta última pieza es más del doble de larga que la anterior. No es intencionado, pero
todo es lento y necesita su tiempo para evolucionar. La pieza evolucionó a partir de mi propia
experiencia de crecimiento personal tras sentimientos de pérdida y desesperación. Empezó como un lamento
de sentirme marginada, invisible y marginada (gracias Audre Lorde), pero el último tercio se
inspirado en un breve periodo en el que empecé a curarme y a pensar en el niño que llevaba dentro.
esta sección trata de representar una visión que tuve mientras hacía ejercicio: ojos cerrados, en un espacio oscuro pero cálido.
pero cálido, y me di cuenta de que era allí donde la niña reconstruiría su vida, ladrillo a ladrillo, pero sería su vida, no una vida relacionada con el pasado.
pero sería su vida, no una vida relacionada con el pasado ni con nadie. Esta imagen y experiencia
en la sección final, en la que intento crear una versión sonora del espacio que imaginé.
el texto, parte de un poema de Mary Oliver, The Journey, habla de esta experiencia.
Si ese fue el impulso artístico, compositores del pasado me han influido: Iannis Xenakis por los
Iannis Xenakis por los glissandi tortuosos de la apertura, pero también sentí la presencia de la Novena de Mahler. La sección central de
La sección central es la parte más torturada de la pieza, y el crescendo gradual de los grillos
representa un estado de ánimo que soporta el sufrimiento mental que atraviesa todo lo demás.
Pero...
el nuevo título refleja dejar atrás el victimismo y abrazar el crecimiento. Así, es 'el amor
crecerá'.

Cancion 6: El Amor Crecerá

cancion 5: ser mujer

What it is to be a woman? This is based around a recording I made in my second week here in Morelia. I joined the 8 March International women’s day in Morelia as the different groups played drums, burnt incense and chanted “Las mujeres de Michoacán!” The drums became a theme throughout the piece and towards the end I separated the drums from the original video recording as well as the two main chants and arranged them as if there were two groups
entering from different sides of the street. I remembered from my university days hearing a piece by Charles Ives where he simulated two marching bands playing different tunes on different
sides of the street, something he had witnessed as a child in his hometown.

¿Qué es ser mujer? Esto se basa en una grabación que hice en mi segunda semana aquí en Morelia. Me uní al 8 de marzo, Día Internacional de la Mujer en Morelia, mientras los diferentes grupos tocaban tambores, quemaban incienso y cantaban "¡Las mujeres de Michoacán!". Los tambores se convirtieron en un tema a lo largo de la pieza y hacia el final separé los tambores de la grabación de vídeo original, así como los dos cánticos principales, y los dispuse como si hubiera dos grupos
entrando por distintos lados de la calle. Recordaba que en la universidad escuché una pieza de Charles Ives en la que simulaba dos bandas de música tocando distintas melodías en distintos lados de la calle, algo que él había hecho en el pasado.
lados de la calle, algo que había presenciado de niño en su ciudad natal.

canción 5: Ser Mujer

Experimental composer, currently working in the field of Acousmatic music; she has ADHD which means that she often leaves the tap (faucet) running, tries to do too many things at once (at one time, this was considered a virtue and called multi-tasking); but can be a blessing to her creativity. She is also a committed feminist and activist; “I only fight the battles for justice, equality and diversity.” 💜🌈  Member of: https://soundgirls.org/  and https://womensaudiomission.org/  and https://immujeris.morelia.gob.mx/

Frà Maria

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