Audio Control Turn on Yuval's sonic flow

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But he is already lost in the sweet illusion of what is fabulously possible,
deafened to what it is, alas, also, unfortunately possible”.
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Audio Control Turn on Yuval's sonic flow
Audio Control

dedicated to Anish Kapoor
Closing concert Dirty corner by Anish Kapoor. La Fabbrica del Vapore | Milan, Italy, January 2012
40 tubas, 5 contrabass tuba soloists, 6 percussions, choir, extended vocal technique soloists & live electronics

A one-of-a-kind large-scale sonic experiment, GARON (in Hebrew – “throat”) is a unique contemporary concert designed to involve the public and performers in an architecture of sounds and structures.
GARON is a journey of listening, written in an unknown language – archaic and new at the same time, with an exceptional overwhelming orchestration, used for the first time in the history of music: 45 tubas (ranging from contrabass Tubas to Euphoniums – the tenor tubas) are the foundation of this sonic mass (in a symphonic orchestra usually there is only one tuba player), 6 percussions, 1 large choir of professional singers, soloists of extended vocal techniques and non-musicians, 3 conductors, 1 programmer for the live electronics played in 12 speakers.

GARON is a visionary journey that takes the audience and the musicians through a path made of acoustic, electric, polyhedral and tridimensional sounds: premiered January 2012 as closing event of Anish Kapoor’s Dirty Corner site specific installation in Milan, and considered as one of the most ambitious musical projects created in the city for years. A large heterogeneous audience composed of enthusiasts of classical and experimental music joined together into a surprisingly large crowd of spectators, rarely seen in contemporary music concerts; entire families decided to participate in this extraordinary event, attracted not only by this unusual music formation but also by its unique architecture of listening.

GARON creates a tridimensional sonic tunnel in which the spectator is invited to explore freely its entire richness, walking between the musicians alternating sound architecture perspectives, sometimes standing, sometimes sitting or even laying down on the floor.
The dialogue that GARON had created with the world premiere performing venue and Kapoor’s sculpture could be repeated in any large indoor environment crossed by a narrow corridor created by an architectonic detail, a physical material (metal, wood, cloth, plastic) or virtually (for example with the help of light design).

The musical score of GARON presents fifty minutes of constant elaboration of basic primordial sounds: breath, rumour, shout, constant drones, crystallized fragments. Each moment is shaped till its minimal detail, each musical gesture is defined and coded, but the overall result does not bring the listener to a state of orientation, quite the opposite. It is as if time and environment transform into a blurred endless context, an abyss composed strictly by Materia. No melodies, no harmonies, no musical narrative, only structure and strong gestures.

Using a massive sonic ensemble positioned in chosen points in space gave Avital the possibility to shape sound around the listener almost as a physical material. The structure within the score is a nesting of constant transitions between opposite parameters (silence & sound, low & high, dense & rare), in reference both to the cone shape of the tuba (and also of Kapoor’s sculpture) as to an experience of walking between light and darkness.

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Massive Sonic Works:

/ˈmæsɪv ˈsɒnɪk wɜːrks/

Large-scale performances using collective participation to create powerful sound masses.

Yuval Avital’s “Massive Sonic Works” or “Opera di Massa Sonora” involves the creation of large-scale performances that utilize collective participation to craft a unique sound experience. These works focus on forming powerful sound masses through the collaboration of numerous performers, exploring new possibilities through sound rituals. The compositions often include graphic visual elements, written music, and easy-to-read instructions to allow interpretation by individuals without prior musical experience. This approach, sometimes involving hundreds of participants, aims to create what can be described as “crowd music.”

Some key works in Avital’s repertoire include:

– GARON (2012): An opera for 45 bass tubas do, percussions, and a crowd of performers.

– KARAGATAN (2013): A composition for 100 gongs and bamboo in the Philippines.

– REKA (2014): Commissioned by the Warsaw Autumn Festival and co-produced by the MiTo festival in Milan, involving traditional singers from unique cultures such as Tibetan, Zulu, Sardinian, Mongolian, and Samarkand traditions.

One of Avital’s significant compositions is MISE EN ABÎME, a milestone work that marks the beginning of his “Massive Sonic Works” series. Premiered in 2011, this composition involves a large ensemble of 100-200 non-musician vocalists, accordions, bass tubas, soprano, bass clarinet, percussions, didgeridoo, and conductors directing the performance in an immersive setup.

Another notable work is URLA, an immersive sonic experience with over 300 performers, showcasing diverse musical traditions in Matera, Italy. This piece combines traditional elements with modern instrumentation, theatrical actions, and innovative technological approaches, reflecting Yuval Avital’s interdisciplinary and transcultural artistic vision.

Yuval Avital’s creations blend complexity, cultural diversity, and technological innovation to create immersive and participatory sonic experiences that push the boundaries of traditional music composition and performance.