Les oiseaux de Nias
Roxanne Turcotte
-
1Les oiseaux de Nias (2017-19, 20) Michel Dubeau, bird calls, ocarinas, shakuhachi, sulings, processing; Julien Grégoire, bird calls, percussion; Claire Marchand, bird calls, flute, piccolo, didgeridoo; Sonia Paço-Rocchia, bird calls, bassoon, Tuyau long, processing; Guy Pelletier, bird calls, piccolo, sulings; Chœur d’oiseaux de Nias (Serge Arcuri, game calls; Marie Anne Bérard, game calls; Elisabeth Cathy, game calls; Alain Chartier, game calls; Ana Dall’Ara-Majek, game calls; François Doyon, guitar-game call; Martine Doyon, game calls; Chantal Dumas, game calls; Dustin Finer, game calls; Odile Gruet, game calls; Marc Hyland, game calls; Alain Lalonde, game calls; Julie-Ann Lepage, game calls; Chantal Levert, game calls; Jiaxin Li, game calls; Isabelle Paradis, game calls; Marie Pelletier, game calls; Simon-Émile Pelletier, game calls; Hélène Perrault, game calls; Estelle Schorpp, game calls; Arthur Turcotte, game calls; Chantal Turcotte, game calls; Élise Turcotte, game calls; Roxanne Turcotte, game calls; Bin Zhang, game calls)29:54
Programme notes
On the Island of Nias, off Sumatra in Indonesia, golden-voiced singing birds, such as the Sumatran laughing-thrush, the red chattering lory with its blackish-green tail, and the black-winged starling, are unfortunately captured every year for the benefit of a singing contest. A “tweet mania” where birds sadly disappear from the forest to go live in tiny cages. (Taken from and inspired by the feature story “Indonésie, l’éveil d’un archipel” broadcast in January 2016 on the television programme Thalassa on TV5.)
Exotic birds are caught illegally every year in the tropical forests to be sold on markets aimed primarily at Westerners. Parrots are hidden inside plastic bottles. Beautiful songbirds are exploited solely for the pleasure of the human ear. Southeast Asia is full of these rare and sought-after bird species.
Nature’s rites make some noise under this silence, no matter the location. There is a forest where, somewhere, birds are hiding from predators. Bird trafficking carries on to satisfy unprincipled aficionados.
Elsewhere, we listen to them, we enjoin them to be carefree. Let’s record them and observe them. In groups, birds show solidarity and a lack of hierarchy
At the heart of this piece’s theme is a behavioural and comparative study on how gregarious birds behave and how opposition manifests among human beings.
Les oiseaux de Nias draws a parallel between types of gathering among living beings and references the very troubling incidence of human activity on Earth’s ecosystem.
The great challenge for this work, which developed from acoustic/electronic coexistence, was to establish unity between fixed pre-spatialized sounds, the amplified, modified and spatialized sounds of the five soloists, and the choir of 25 acoustic bird calls.
I recorded the birdsongs while trekking and travelling. Added to acoustic sounds are sound objects I made
This musical fantasia also includes visual and theatrical elements, and it calls for audience participation. It was first designed for a performance at the Satosphère of the Société des arts technologiques (SAT) in Montréal (Québec), a hemispheric hall fitted with a 31-channel, 157-loudspeaker sound system.
— Roxanne Turcotte [English translation
Les oiseaux de Nias [The Birds of Nias] was realized in 2017-2019 at the composer’s studio (Studio Séducson) in Montréal and was premiered on February 26, 2019 at the concert D’un espace à l’autre presented at the Satosphère of the Société des arts technologiques (SAT) as part of the Montréal / Nouvelles musiques (MNM) festival in Montréal. Set design
Premiere
- February 26, 2019, Michel Dubeau
; Julien Grégoire; Claire Marchand; Sonia Paço-Rocchia; Guy Pelletier; Roxanne Turcotte; ensemble volant (Serge Arcuri; Marie Anne Bérard; Ana Dall’Ara-Majek; Chantal Dumas; Dustin Finer; Ariane Gruet-Pelchat; Odile Gruet; Noémie Guérin-Maillette; Marc Hyland; Alain Lalonde; Julie-Ann Lepage; Chantal Levert; Brigitte Maillette; Isabelle Paradis; Marie Pelletier; Simon-Émile Pelletier; Hélène Perrault; Estelle Schorpp; Chantal Turcotte; Élise Turcotte) • Montréal / Nouvelles Musiques 2019: D’un espace à l’autre, Société des arts technologiques, Montréal (Québec)
Awards
About this sound recording
This sound recording was made on October 23, 2020 at Fast Forward Studio in Montréal. Thanks to
- Writer(s): Roxanne Turcotte
- Composer(s): Roxanne Turcotte
- Year of composition: 2017-19, 20
- Duration: 29:54
- Instrumentation: 5 wind instruments, 25 bird calls and immersive multichannel fixed medium (31-channel)
- Publisher(s): Ymx média
- ISRC: CAD502110018
Movements
L’appel (dissidence)
- Movement of: Les oiseaux de Nias
Murmurations (mobilisation)
- Movement of: Les oiseaux de Nias
La résistance (révolution)
- Movement of: Les oiseaux de Nias
