JAVIER TORRES MALDONADO

Sidereus Nuncius
per tre percussionisti, danzatori e dispositivo elettroacustico.

EDIZIONI SUVINI ZERBONI - MILANO

Work commissioned by the Festival Msica y Escena and the Festival Internacional Cervantino. The electro-acoustic part was composed during several artistic residences of Javier Torres Maldonado at the GRAME (Centre National de Cration Musicale) of Lyons, in 2009.

Musical informatics and technical realization: Max Bruckert (GRAME.) Sound design: Javier Torres Maldonado e Max Bruckert (GRAME.)

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SIDEREUS NUNCIUS (Il messaggero siderale.)

Conceptualization: Javier Torres Maldonado and Jos Manuel Recillas. Lyric texts*: Jos Manuel Recillas.

Prima parte: Ah, nobilissima Stella! Durata: ca. 25 minuti.

1. Introduccin. 2. Pulcherrimum atque visu iucundissimum est, lunare corpus / Bellissima cosa e mirabilmente piacevole, vedere il corpo della luna. 3. Quod tandem in causa fuit, ut ad rationes inquirendas / E questo fu causa che io mi volgessi tutto a cercar le ragioni. 4. Triplo enim viciniora, nonuplo vero maiora apparebant, quam dum sola naturali acie spectarentur / Tre volte pi vicini e nove volte pi grandi di quanto non si vedano a occhio nudo. 5. Circulos binos aut quadrata bina chartacea contornabit / Tracci il contorno di due circoli o due quadrati di carta 6. Oculus inspicientis esto e / L'occhio di colui che guarda sia e

Seconda parte: E primamente vidi... Durata: ca. 25 minuti.

1. Verum, non modo tenebrarum et luminis / Veramente non solo i confini tra luce e tenebre 2. Alteram nempe clariorem, obscuriorem alteram / pi chiara l'una, pi scura l'altra 3. Macula ante secundam quadraturam nigrioribus / Questa macchia medesima si vede, avanti la seconda quadratura 4. Enim adscititios accidentalesque a Stellis fulgores adimit / Toglie alle stelle gli splendori acquisiti e accidentali 5. Unum quoque oblivioni minime tradam / E voglio anche ricordare un'altra cosa

The poetic texts are conceived as an extension of the music; although if they constitute a separate entity from the music, should ideally be published in the program. I testi poetici sono concepiti come unestensione dellopera musicale; sebbene essi costituiscano unentit separata dalla musica, idealmente dovrebbero essere pubblicati allinterno del programma di mano.

III

Sidereus Nuncius. The sidereal messenger

Sidereus nuncius, or The sidereal messenger, is a multidisciplinary work that includes original music, dance and scene action, poetry, video, and electroacustic sound manipulation that it is framed in the celebrations by the Astronomys International Year (2009) and in that of the 300 years of the invention of the telescope by Galileo Galilei. Its title comes from the report that Galileo made informing the first astronomical discoveries through this instrument. The parts of the composition take its names of fragments in Latin of this work. These titles and subtitles suggest a contemporary reading of the work, thought more as lyrical document for their sonority that as what is, the first scientific communication of the history of Western World. In that sense also, it is a work that is projected beyond the sound, of the image, of the interaction between these two areas and the dance, to continue existing in and through the lyrical texts that conform it that are not listened neither they see but that are prolonged through the poetry that accompanies the work from the literature, giving form and sense to what is intertwined in the scenario. Sidereus Nuncius was conceived as a critical reading regarding the original work of Galileo, and in its multidisiplinaric conception not only converge concepts and diverse aesthetic slopes, but also a desire to oppose it to the secular and positive rationalism that the thought of Galileo inaugurated. Thats the reason why the composition doesnt make reference to the anecdotic aspect of his relationships and conflicts with Religion, but to the scientific aspect of his work. On the contrary, it is a work in which the audience will be able to listen, at the same time, particular acoustic phenomena, from an authentic virtuality, auditory illusions generated by our perception starting from certain sound phenomena, like the deformation of the timbre obtained through sonic accelerations in the space, the contraction or extreme expansion of sound objects, the use of the acoustic space as musical structural parameter, and the relationship between time and memory, all which are, on the other hand, the dramatic elements that characterize the score in which Javier Torres Maldonado makes converge science and music into a metaphor sound. In Sidereus Nuncius not only converges different artistic disciplines, but also diverse lyrical sources that are shown openly in opposition (Benn, Nietzsche, Pessoa, Hlderlin) in front of the pattern of prevalent rationalistic unique thought in Western World. In the same way, the argumentational elements that goes from Platos myth of cavern and the gesture of God separating the light from darkness until the foundation of Babel and the multiplication of languages on the world, passing through Icarus myth until their evolution on that of Altazor, they look for to be a reading key that invests this thought uniformity that see in Chaos a misfortune and not the origin of the diversity, and in the science and scientific method reintroduced by Galileo the origin of the pillaging and predating of the planet. Sidereus Nuncius is a work that is projected at the same time on several conceptual levels, and that it celebrates the chaos and the diversity in front of the threats of the rationalistic and unifier thought, adopting an openly critical posture in front of the international conmemoration toward Galileo and his legacy, challenging the audience to reappropiate of the typical multireferenciality of our time that Sidereus Nuncius adopts as its banner, remembering that such a quality of our days was, equally, introduced by Galileo and his scientific thought, linked equally to what today calls science as well as to what is art, both music and poetry, to those that him and his father was affected and accomplished performers. The reduction of Galileos scientist thought is an abuse of modern science, and the art also demands its place, beyond the world of chaos and of the magic thought, of the slimming thought that is the scientific method.

Jos Manuel Recillas Mexico city, May 2009

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SIDEREUS NUNCIUS
THE TEXTS REPRODUCED BELOW ARE A LYRICAL EXTENSION OF THE MUSICAL WORK. STRICTLY SPEAKING, THEY HAVE NOT BEEN DESIGNED TO BE READ OR RECITED DURING THE PERFORMANCE; NEVERTHELESS, IT IS STRONGLY RECOMMENDED TO PUBLISH THEM IN THE PROGRAM DISTRIBUTED TO THE PUBLIC.) Preludio escnico Narrado, voz en off: Dixitque Deus: Fiat lux. Et facta est lux. Et vidit Deus lucem quod esset bona et divisit Deus lucem ac tenebras.
Gnesis 1, 3-4, Nota: en la obra esto aparece recitado en hebreo.

Narrado, voz en off, en forma de eco: ex altera vero unum sphrice convexum Narrado, voz en off: El saber es la inconsciencia de ignorar La ignorancia es la inconsciencia del saber y salir de las tinieblas es no salir
Fernando Pessoa, [variacin sobre] Primer Fausto, Tema II

ESCENA 5
Fusionado como un eco: Er will Nichts, er sorgt sich um Nichts, sein Herz steht still, nur sein Auge lebt, es ist ein Tod mit wachen Augen.
[l no quiere nada, no se preocupa de nada, su corazn est firme, slo su ojo vive es una muerte a ojos abiertos] Nietzsche, Am Mittag.

Contado por los bailarines Voces en coro: As empez todo en el principio! Voz solista: Toda una noche de cenizas cae desde entonces una noche en silencio y sin protesta vivida como un enorme gong que la muerte anuncia Narrado, voz en off O perene mistrio, que atravessa como um suspiro cus e coraes
[Pessoa, Primer Fausto, Tema I, III]

Narrado, voz en off Nich ist es aber die Zeit. Noch sind sie Unangebunden. Gttliches trifft unteilnehmende nicht.
[Pero no es tiempo. An estn ellos desencadenados. No atae lo divino a quienes no lo son] Hlderlin, Die Titanen, versos 1-3.

Narrado, voz en off Quanto mais claro vejo em mim, mais escuro o que vejo. Quanto mais compreendo menos me sinto compreendido. horror paradoxal deste pensar...
[Pessoa, Primer Fausto, Tema II, XVII]

Narrado, voz en off Il n'y a rien pour vivant, il y a seulement une grande morsure et ce qui est haut
[No hay nada por lo cual vivir, slo hay un gran mordisco y lo que est en lo alto]

Narrado, voz en off Weit und ber dort ist nichts, nur ein Geist winziger Sachen, und viel mehr gekommen davon was dieses kam
[No hay nada all, solo un espejismo de cosas diminutas, y muchas ms venidas de donde esa provino]

Narrado, voz en off Nun ist die Stunde der gro!en Nacht, V

des Rausches und der entwichenen Formen

[Ahora es la hora de la gran noche, de la ebriedad y las evanescentes formas] Gottfried Benn, El Yo moderno. 10.febrero.2009

ESCENA 6

Voces 1 y 2, Cientficos modernos Voces 3 y 4, Hombres primitivos Voz 1: Rational choice Ordem e progreso, emblemas del avance alcanzado Voz 2: Le toca al hombre ver y comprender y medir y pesar a cada cosa en s y slo ver, medir, Voz 1: Medir y ver y dar y no tomar: Voces 1 y 2: Emblemas del avance alcanzado! Voz 3: Me di y di a la tierra y no participar

lo que los astros claman Voz 4: Bajo la tierra est la flor y el fruto la semen que nos da

el canto y el futuro Voz 3: Pedir al cielo esa orfandad que nos reclama y en cada acto recibir un poco de ese Mana Voz 1: Mirad este presente

ESCENA 8
Voces

ESCENA 9
Voces

VI

REMARKS. - Accidentals affect only the notes they precede, excepting repeated notes. - Electro-acoustic events are indicated by numbers inside a square; their activation can be can be done via a midi pedal or other midi device on which the players could activate the cue of events. - Electro-acoustic: it consists mainly in a patch Max/Msp, version 4.6.3, included in the DVD published with the score. In the next pages it is possible to find more details about amplification and other details regarding the electro-acoustic system required; nevertheless, for more detailed information on the electro-acoustic part, please see the patch Max/Msp.

Berimbaus notation:
Low note Played with the arame free:

High note Played with the coin pressing against the arame:

Only Caxixi (playing alone):

Buzz tone, in which the coin rests lightly against the arame:

First play the low note and after press against the arame with the coin to produce a higher note, but without a hit from the vareta:

Instruments (general list):

Timpani: I - 32", II - 29", III - 23", V - 20". Tibetan singing bowl (high). Tibetan singing bowl (medium). Tibetan singing bowl (the largest possible). 3 Javanese or Thai gongs (high, medium, large). 3 spring coils. 2 Bass-drums. 3 pairs of Maracas. 4 cymbals on the timpani: Timpano I (32"): cymbal 20", Timpano II (29"): cymbal 18", Timpano III (26"): cymbal 16", Timpano V (20"): cymbal 14". 3 susp. cymbals. 2 Vibraphones. 2 Windchimes. 2 bamboo-chimes. Triangle (large). 1 pair of finger cymbals. Sistro. 2 tam-tam. 2 marimbas. 3 berimbaus. Instruments hanging on the ceiling (behind the public): I suggest to use wood-chimes, bamboo chimes, maracas, and any other instrument that its timbre can be associated to wood or produced by the percussion of seeds in its body. The percussionist must control all these instruments with strings tied to them.

VII

The instruments listed above have been organized in four specific modules (see the diagram in which is specified every position in the stage, on successive pages):

Module A Tibetan singing bowl (high) Javanese or Thai gong (medium) Spring coil 4 Timpani: I - 32", II - 29", III - 23", V - 20". 4 cymbals on the timpani: Timpano I (32"): cymbal 20", Timpano II (29"): cymbal 18", Timpano III (26"): cymbal 16", Timpano V (20"): cymbal 14". Maracas. Susp. cymbal. Vibraphone. Finger cymbals. Sistro. Berimbau.

Module B Javanese or Thai gong (large) Tibetan singing bowl (the largest possible) Spring coil Bass-drum (amplified and treated in real time) Maracas (amplified and treated in real time) Susp. cymbal (amplified and treated in real time) Triangle (large) Tam-tam. 2 marimbas (amplified and treated in real time) Wind chimes. Berimbau (amplified and treated in real time) 2 Bamboo-chimes

Module C Tibetan singing bowl (medium) (amplified and treated in real time) Javanese or Thai gong (little) Bass-drum (amplified and treated in real time) Maracas (amplified and treated in real time) Susp. Cymbal (amplified and treated in real time) Spring coil. Vibraphone. Berimbau (amplified and treated in real time)

Module D. Glockenspiel (amplified and treated in real time) Wind chimes (amplified and treated in real time) Tam-tam Jav. or Thai gong (little, the same as in module C.)

VIII

Grame, centre national de cration musicale 9 rue du garet BP1185 69202 Lyon cedex 01 T/ 04 72 07 37 00 contact ralisation musicale : Max Bruckert bruckert@grame.fr

Technical Rider for "Siderius Nuncius" J.T Maldonado

LS 2

CV to Midi box + 3 Sustain pedal

incoming condenser microphones

15" at screen B (VGA_Hd15 input) PERCUSSION B

4 wireless condensor microphones

STAGE

LS 1

LS 3

midi<->canon

link

link

wedge A

wedge A

SW 1

SW 2

--------------------------------------------------------------------------15" at screen A (VGA_Hd15 input) PERCUSSION A wedge B wedge B VGA Splitter

canon multicable 24 in / 12 outs

15" at screen C (VGA_Hd15 input) PERCUSSION C

LS 8 to wedges A + B LS 7 to LS 1 to 8

LS 4

big VGA/Hd15 computer cable

can o

n<>

mid i

Yamaha digital mixing desk (DM1000)

bus out 1 bus out 2 bus out 3 bus out 4 bus out 5 bus out 6 bus out 7 bus out 8 aux out 7 aux out 8

Omni out

MY16AT Adat Opt. Card

direct out 1 to 8

Digital Regie : - macbook pro 2.4 + 2Go RAM - soundcard RME reface 400

AUDIENCE

STEREO OUT

aux out 1 aux out 2

Recording device

midi mixer 8 faders

MY8DA Adat Opt. Card

LS 5

aux out 5->reverb

PERCUSSION D

LS 6

Grame, centre national de cration musicale 9 rue du garet BP1185 69202 Lyon cedex 01 T/ 04 72 07 37 00 contact ralisation musicale : Max Bruckert bruckert@grame.fr

Technical Rider for "Siderius Nuncius" J.T Maldonado

LS = Loudspeacker SW = Subwoofer LOUSPEACKER SYSTEM - Loudspeacker type should be fullrange speackers like Amadeus MPB600 or CHeil MTD115, APG DS15, DAS System). - Subwoofers should be linked to LS 1 and 3. - The ampliers must be adapted to the loudspeackers' power. - All Loudspeackers are independants (to have 8 independant points) - the ampliers are connected to 8 outputs of the mixing desk - Wedges type should be Amadeus MPB200R, C.Heil MTB 112 or equivalent - Wedges A are set for the musicians / wedges B are set for the dancers on stage - Loudpseackers should be set at 2,4 meters high at top, according to the possibilities of the theater MIXING DESK - The Mixing-desk should be digital -> Yamaha DM1000 or DM2000 - It must have 16 mic inputs with 48 V for the condenser mics - Their should be an ADAT connection for the connection with the computer (MY8AT or MY16AT) HIGH_FREQUENCY CONDENSOR MICROPHONES - 4 high-frequency emitters are their corresponding receivers all set on different channels -> equivalent to AKG PT81 (emitter) AKG PS81 (reciever). - 4 DPA 4061 adapted for the emitters. - a set of batteries adapted for the high-frequency mics for the rehearsals and the concert PLEASE CHECK OUT THAT THE FREQUENCIES ARE ADAPTED TO YOUR CONTRY/TOWN CONDENSER MICROPHONES - 4 Neuman KM 184 - 9 AKG C-414 ULS - 1 AKG C411 Please let us know if you have difficulties to nd these microphones OTHERS : - 110v->220V power adaptor + european plugs - 3 15inch computer at screens and the powering on stage - 1 big VGA/Hd15 computer cable -> enough to go from the digital regie to a box on stage - 3 smaller VGA/Hd15 computer cable -> enough to go from the box on stage to the 3 screens - one midi mixer (Behringer BCF2000 or BCR2000, Evolution UCR33, etc) GRAME WILL BRING : - the computer (macbookpro 2,4 Ghz / 4 Go RAM) - soundard RME reface 400 - CV to midi + 3 sustain pedal - 4 output VGA_Hd15 splitter - the converting cable midi->canon / canon->midi Please let us know if you have difficulties to nding some material. Feel free to send us your technical riders of the equipement.