Electric Fields (world premiere, LA Phil commission with generous support from Ellen and Arnold Zetcher)
David CHALMIN / Bryce DESSNER, based on Hildegard of Bingen / Barbara Strozzi / Francesca Caccini
About this Piece
Our intent with Electric Fields was to channel the inspiration of very ancient melodies, songs, and texts by exceptional composers of different eras through our own contemporary perspective with modern instrumentation, written for three of the most incredible performers in Barbara Hannigan and Katia and Marielle Labeque.
As often in our work, we tried to connect periods and instruments in order to erase the frontiers between time and genre. The character of Hildegard von Bingen was central to this creative process as her music feels very close, and her personality was incredibly modern.
The collaboration with Bryce Dessner allowed us to explore a very wide range of soundscapes and techniques by mixing our two very complementary approaches of composition.
The use of live electronics was key in order to capture and synthesize the organic material delivered by the musicians onstage as well as utilizing larger dimensional soundscapes and textures with the use of modular synths.