El medio ambiente acústico de México
Claude Schryer
Programme notes
To Sabrina

“When we walk, as time passes, we enter into an interior rhythm and pass into another state which is much more receptive and pensive.”
— Knud Viktor, sound artist
In Marche sonore I (Le matin du monde) I questioned the nature of listening and the multiple definitions of acoustic ecology by means of recordings of testimonies of friends, colleagues and family about the soundscape. Five years later, having found answers to these questions, I composed this second radiophonic soundwalk, El medio ambiente acústico de México (The Soundscapes of Mexico), which calls upon the musicality and poetry of the soundscapes I recorded in the fall of 1995 in Mexico City and the state of Oaxaca.
I worked like a photographer who studies and chooses his subject carefully, tries to document the magic of the moment, processes his captured images in studio and composes them into a collection of memories and sensations.
El medio ambiente acústico de México was drawn from Marche sonore II, a 50-minute radio work produced for Radio-Canada.
[ix-97]
El medio ambiente acústico de México was realized in my home studio in March, 1996 (radiophonic version) and revised in March, 1997 (disc version). The radiophonic version of the piece premiered on Saturday, March 16, 1996 at 11 pm on Le navire
Premiere
- March 16, 1996, Le navire
night« , Chaîne culturelle de Radio-Canada, Canada»
- Composer(s): Claude Schryer
- Year of composition: 1995-96, 97
- Instrumentation: stereo fixed medium
- Publisher(s): Ymx média
Movements
Mosaico
(Mosaic) Introduction to the soundwalk
Fragments from the radiophonic version of the piece.
[ix-97]
- Movement of: El medio ambiente acústico de México
- Duration: 1:04
- ISRC: CAD509712840
Océano
(Ocean) Meditation on water and earth
The Pacific ocean at Puerto Angel (Oaxaca), dry corn field in Tenochtitlan del Valle (Oaxaca) and a shepherd with a flock of sheep in Tenochtitlan del Valle (Oaxaca).
[ix-97]
- Movement of: El medio ambiente acústico de México
- Duration: 2:32
- ISRC: CAD509712850
Transportación
(Transportation) Choking mobility
A man selling chiclets gum in the subway of Mexico City (DF), a train in Chapultepec park in Mexico City (DF), an old truck coming down a mountain trail in Angangueo (Michoacan), traffic in Oaxaca City (Oaxaca), a firecracker explosion in Xochimilco (DF) and the breath of two climbers on Mount Popocatepetl (Mexico).
[ix-97]
- Movement of: El medio ambiente acústico de México
- Duration: 2:49
- ISRC: CAD509712860
Música
(Music) Crossing “à la Charles Ives,” of the sacred, the profane and the military
Woman’s choir singing the Mexican Virgin Mary chant La Guadalupana in Puerto Angel (Oaxaca), parade band with firecrackers in Xochimilco (DF) and a military band at the Zocalo, Mexico City (DF).
[ix-97]
- Movement of: El medio ambiente acústico de México
- Duration: 2:35
- ISRC: CAD509712870
Naturaleza
(Nature) The melodies of nature
Seaside nocturnal insects in Puerto Angel (Oaxaca), wild pigs in a nature reserve (Oaxaca), Monarch butterflies in Angangueo (Michoacan) and rain in Coyoacan (DF).
[ix-97]
- Movement of: El medio ambiente acústico de México
- Duration: 2:47
- ISRC: CAD509712880
Campanas
(Bells) Conclusion of the soundwalk
Slow walk towards a church tower at noon with firecrackers in Tenochtitlan del valle (Oaxaca), ocean in Puerto Angel (Oaxaca) and an industrial siren in Oaxaca City (Oaxaca).
[ix-97]
- Movement of: El medio ambiente acústico de México
- Duration: 4:17
- ISRC: CAD509712890
