Manif
(French word for "manifestation"; the equivalent to "demo" for demonstration or protest in English)
Inspired by the many grass roots social movements and individual actions of protest that have ignited the globe this past year, "Manif” explores the place of sound and noise in amplifying voices that are otherwise not being heard. To this end, people have turned to sound to make their opinions and discontent manifest – clearly, distinctly palpably.
Making noise in a public space is at once a peaceful and subversive act. Contrary to the experience of attending a concert, where one chooses to be exposed to particular sounds, the sound of people in the street can be inescapable, penetrating your audible field whether you want to listen or not. In this way we are forced to confront (even if subconsciously) what this “disturbance” might mean, and decide what it is we think.
I am interested both in the embodied sound of resistance as well as the way these acts of subversion resound within our collective consciousness. Percussion seemed to present itself to me as a logical starting point for this piece, both in its full embrace of sounds some may consider noise, as well as in its physicality and visual dynamism.
Two events particularly inspired this music: the first was the Montreal “casseroles protests” – in which people of all ages and walks of life (sometimes in the hundreds of thousands) gathered in the streets banging pots and pans to protest tuition hikes and, perhaps more importantly, a bill forbidding spontaneous gatherings of over 50 people without police approval. Interestingly, night after night, this communal beating of kitchenware soon gave way to a powerful feeling of solidarity and community, connecting neighbors and creating an unprecedented sense of belonging through participation. The second event which served as a creative catalyst for me, was the imprisonment of members of the Russian feminist collective Pussy Riot on charges of hooliganism for their anti-Putin “Punk Prayer” performance in a Moscow cathedral. I channeled this idea freely in the 2nd movement by juxtaposing a warped bell carol with a drum solo, which fights to assert itself through the clangorous texture. To guide your listening, the piece is structured in the following way:
Prelude- for singing bowl and megaphone
Movement I- casseroles
Interlude I- metallic resonance 1
Movement II- drum solo vs. bell carol
Interlude II- drum improvisation
Movement III- metallic resonance 2 with megaphones
Epilogue- conclusion