(2007) for violin, alto sax, piano, percussion and computer interaction, 16’
instrumentation: violin, alto sax, piano, percussion (bell, amplified pencil on paper, sand paper, stones, guiro, amplified objects chosen by musician, musical saw, sax mouthpiece, three snare drums, toy piano, cymbal) + computer processing of amplified instruments and interactive computer part.
MB note: The piece is in seven movements.
(dis)Sensus, commissioned by the Ensemble Integrales, Germany, creates a dialectic of dissent, each movement presenting a refigured aesthetic that explores new modalities of sensation. The piece begins with the percussionist writing on a piece of paper, a fragment of text from French political philosopher, Jacques Ranciere: “Dissensus is a modification of the coordinates of the sensible, a spectacle of a tonality that replaces another.” The scripted rhythms of the written text elaborate through an interactive computer part.
The percussionist plays the role of organizer/disrupter, at times mimicking or undermining the other performers and at times urging them together into consensus (always around the snare drum). But the percussionist refuses to conform to a shared purpose, introducing an aesthetic of dissent. (dis)Sensus was commissioned by Ensemble Integrales and premiered in Hamburg, Germany in 2008. The piece is part of a series of works on embodiment politics including (dis)Appearances (2003) for (dis)embodied string trio, (dis)Locations (2007) for alto sax, video and computer, (in)Stances for two performers, and (dis)Integrations (2004) for cello, piano and computer.
(dis)Sensus (2007)
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