Conservation Conversation.

A Sound Essay.

The rural area of Tescani in Romanian Moldova is characterized by reverberating sounds waving in the wind between hills, farming, and plenty of dogs. Up the hill on the edge of the village lies a small museum in honor of the Romanian composer George Enescu. A mansion with its own little forest. But the grandeur of the past shows cracks. Humidity sneaks up the walls. Red, aristocratic patterned carpets host notes, furnitures, and instruments of historical importance. Mice ate the hammer felt of the piano – the one on which Enescu finished his opera “Oedipe”. Packs of visitors come in coaches, have a quick look, bath in some mellow notes, and climb their vehicle again to take off.

The piece follows, questions, deconstructs, and reconstructs the process of conservation. It starts a conversation with the ghosts of the past. Open exploration, improvisation, and coincidences play a major role in the piece as all recordings were caught on.location. Most of the piece is composed by movement in space on-location and not by layering tracks in post-production. Recordings were played back and re-recorded on-site to use natural reverb instead of using effects in post. The piece drifts intuitively between scenes, thoughts, and impressions. Essayistically, it weaves together reoccurring themes in a meandering way that invites listeners to get lost in the imagination of the place.

text, field recordings, mix

Carina Pesch

voices

Anamaria Pravicencu, Anna Kravets, Zhan Pobe, Irina Botea Bucan, Jon Dean, Carmelo Iannuzzo, Carina Pesch

context

SONIC FUTURE RESIDENCIES #3 at Muzeul Național „George Enescu“ in Tescani, Rumania in September 2021

photo

Carina Pesch

production

Asociația Jumătatea plină and SEMI SILENT 2021