Ashtayama
The title ASHTAYAMA refers to the ancient tradition, inherited from the rituals of the Hindu temples, dividing the daily cycle into 8 time belts of 3 hours each. The musical modes, called RAAG-s, are chosen according to this subdivision. A similar relationship between music and natural cycles is manifest in the European Book of Hours, the monastic daily liturgy practised since medieval times.
In Ashtayama – Song of Hours, the intend is to reach a poetic vision interpreting the human condition at the beginning of the new milenium. A well designed flow of sounds and visions leads behind the habitual dichotomies of nature versus technology, tradition versus avant – garde, Orient and Occident. Eight songs, intervowen with lighting, video projections and dance, follow the natural unfolding of the daily cycle trough various shades of light and darkness; reflecting on the moods and rituals of life’s cycles; exploring the manifold aspects and hues of daily actions. They result in a sort of symbolic clock of sentiments. The partitura of gestures and images,lights and reflections, give a more physical though mutable consistence to the voice, around which the whole performance is conceived.
The Ashtayama cycle may be presented as a performance (duration 70 min. ca.) in a theatre and in other kinds of venues for which it can be accordingly tailored. It can also become a 24 hour installation
In a theatre, the stage will be filled by a square construction of four walls consisting of extremely light, transparent material, and disposed in a diagonal position in relation to the audience. Amelia Cuni sings and moves from inside this space whose boundaries are fixed by the cloth walls acting as projection screens. Two video projectors are hidden behind the two walls at the back of the stage. Since the cloth is transparent, the video images reflect themselves also on the other two walls of the square, while the performer’s can be easily seen in detail all the way trough.
The variety of light changes and intense atmospheres created with the help of live video mixing and simple stage props, make this a fascinating space into which the audience is drawn notwithstanding the “walls” surrounding Amelia. The magic square becomes symbolic for a place of transformatio,, in which different time perceptions confront each other, East and West find a common ground for dialogue. It can also be perceived as a space for intimacy and concentration, possibly offering a new awareness and interpration of ritual.
This light and stage design by Fred Pomerehn and the direction of Claudio de Maglio, achieve a unique and novel presentation capable to bridge cultural gaps and integrating the diverse inputs in an organic flow, while retaining the character and beauty of the original ingredients and the excitement of the confrontation / juxtaposition of such diverse elements.
The video bears witness to the present times: through computer manipulation, the images acquire a distinctive and contemporary feel. Projections of light textures and visual loops complement the music, creating a suitable counterpoint to the voice, enforcing its impact.
The music by Amelia Cuni and WernerDurand uses Indian music forms in fluid, non-conventional ways. Amelia’s vocal renditions and improvisations interact with Werner’s live multitrack mixing of her pre-recorded voice. No electronic effects alter its natural character though loops and digital delays are employed to create melodic/rhythmic patterns and drones. this project celebrates the voice as an instrument of great evocative power.
deutsch
Ashtayama-Song of Hours
ist ein fortlaufendes Projekt, stetig im Fluss und sich selbst erneuernd, offen für die Beiträge unterschiedlicher visueller Künstler. Musik und Licht/Bild interagieren in diversen künstlerischen Umsetzungen. Obwohl die musikalische Ausgangsstruktur festgelegt ist, fühlen wir uns frei, in einem bestimmten Rahmen zu improvisieren und somit auf den wahren Geist und die Kompositionstechnik von Ragamusik zu reflektieren.
Die erste Fassung von Ashtayama war eine Ko-produktion des Podewil, Zentrum für aktuelle Kunst in Berlin, des Zentrums für Kunst und Medientechnologie Karlsruhe und des Vettori Ultamondo, Udine. Diese Fassung ist eine Ko-Produktion von CUNI/DURAND/SIGG.
Die Musik von Amelia Cuni und Werner Durand bedient sich traditioneller indischer Musikformen (Dhrupad) in unkonventioneller Art und Weise. Ihre Arbeit stellt eine zeitgenössische Annäherung an diese reiche und wertvolle Tradition dar, wobei sie deren grundlegenden Einsichten und Tiefe der Vision großen Respekt entgegen bringen. Amelia Cunis Recitativos und Improvisationen treten mit Werner Durands live Mixing ihrer aufgenommenen Stimme in Interaktion. Kein elektronischer Effekt verändert dabei den natürlichen Charakter des Gesangs, durch die Loops und digitalen Delays werden lediglich melodische und rhythmische Formen geschaffen. Dieses Projekt feiert die Stimme als ein Instrument von großer evokativer Kraft.
In der Multimediaversion mit dem Videokünstler ULI SIGG besteht das Bühnenbild aus einer 4m hohen zylindrischen Konstruktion aus extrem leichten, transparenten Gaze-stoff, die als Projektionsfläche dient. Diese wird von 2 Aluminiumringen im Durchmesser von 5 m in Position gehalten. Die visuelle Gestaltung von Uli Sigg setzt dieser Welt des reinen Vokals ein zeitgenössisch geprägtes visuelles Environment entgegen. Ein speziell entwickeltes, interaktives Computerprogramm erlaubt es ausserdem, die Bewegungen der Bilder durch die Musik zu beeinflussen. Videosequenzen und Loops aus mehreren Quellen werden analog zur Musik live zusammengemischt.
Die Premiere fand am 3. Dezember 1999 im Podewil, Berlin, statt, wo Amelia Cuni und Werner Durand als Artists in Residence eingeladen waren. Weitere Aufführungen der Originalversion fanden zwischen dem 28. und 30. Januar im ZKM in Karlsruhe statt.
Die Konzertversion mit einem Video von Yvonne Mohr wurde im ICA, London, im Tropenmuseum Amsterdam und beim Festival Experimenta 21 in Torrelavega,Spanien und in Rio de Janeiro /Brasilien im CCBB gezeigt..
Die Multimediaversion mit Uli Sigg wurde im Rahmen des Düsseldorfer Altstadtfestes am 25. September 2002 im Tanzhaus präsentiert , desweiteren am 22.Februar 2003 im IJsbreker in Amsterdam, am 10. August 2003 in der AKADEMIE DER KÜNSTE in Berlin (im Rahmen der Conceptualisms Ausstellung) , am 20.Februar 2004 in der Werkstatt der Kulturen-Berlin sowie am 5. März beim Festival OTHER MINDS in San Francisco (Yerba Buena Art Centre).
Am 12. Oktober 2002 fand in der St. Egidien Kirche in Nürnberg eine gemeinsame Aufführung von Ashtayama und Teilen des europäischen Stundenbuchs mit der SCHOLA CANTORUM NÜRNBERG statt.
Die Werkstatt de Kulturen in Berlin präsentierte am 15. und 16. November 2002 eine neue Bühnenversion mit Licht- design und Installation von Fred Pommerehn.
Aufführungen 2004: am 13. April, Konzert in Rom (AUDITORIUM, Sala S.Cecilia); am 25.September in Düsseldorf (mit SCHOLA CANTORUM NÜRNBERG/ Fred Pommerehn) und am 6.Oktober in Remscheid .(Multimediaversion).19. Juni, 2005 Stimmenfestival, Kaserne, Basel; 17.Juni 2006 , Serralves Modern Art Museum, Porto, Portugal; 23. September 2006 Torino Spiritualità, Cavallerizza Reale, Turin. 16.Mai 2007, Burghof Lörrach; 24.Juni 2007, Lorca (Spanien) Espirelia Festival und Sept. 2007, Watergate, Berlin. In 2009: 9. April, galleria O’ – Artoteca, Milan (with Marco Brianza-light design) und 27. Juni , St.Egidien, Internationale Orgelwoche Nürnberg (mit Schola Cantorum Nürnberg/Fred Pommerehn.
CD “ASHTAYAMA – Song of Hours” AMIATA Records, Florenz 2000
Terry Riley, composer, says about ASHTAYAMA´s music:
” ASTHAYAMA is a powerful and moving work. A fragrant garland of ragas progresses through the time periods of the day and night revealing the subtle shades of color and mood which are at the heart of the treasured tradition of Dhrupad music. In ASHTAYAMA, tradition and experimentation reach a fine tuned balance contributing to a new viewpoint of an ancient form.”
David Toop, musican and writer, comments :
”…Dhrupad´s austerity would seem to run in opposition to much experimental music, yet this collaboration between Amelia and Werner Durand celebrates restraint and precision as positive virtues, creating a spare, beautiful music that glows with purpose and clarity. Listening to the final piece, “Deep Night”, I hear a music of mysterious force that moves beyond the fusions of the past, holding ancient and future in precarious balance. Its breathy pulsations, swooping melismas and perspectival illusions construct and decompose an intangible maze of shadowy pathways in which new identities flutter with new life. ”
PRESSE:
Tageslaüfe wie Ozeanwellen
Alstadtherbst: Astayama mit Amelia Cuni und Werner Durand begeisterte mit Song of Hours das Publikum im Tanzhaus NRW.
….Eine beeindruckende Klang-Performance mit einer faszinierenden Stimme und einem souverän konzipierten multimedialen Rahmen.”
Bernd Schuknecht,Rheinische Post, 27/9/2002
Morgenland, Abendstern:
Amelia Cuni, Meisterin des indischen Dhrupad-Gesangs
…Nie jedoch wird diese Reise vom Morgen- zum Abendland kitschig…das geschlossene Stoffquadrat ist für sie im weitesten Sinne auch ein Tempel. Dort wird ihr Gesang zu Meditation, zu intimer Kommunikation mit sich selbst…
Waltraud Schwab,Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 7/12/1999
Über den Tönen steigt die Sonne auf:
Die Performance “Ashtayama” beschwört alte hinduistische Traditionen
…Die Produktion…gehört sicherlich zu den beachtlichsten Theatererlebnissen, die in Medientheater (ZKM) bislang zu besichtigen waren….Viele Mixer für einen Abend, der gerade durch seine Schlichtheit und den präzisen Einsatz der Mittel bestach…Stimmungsvolle Rituale eines Theaters, das ungeachtet seines Anspruchs, etwa “ins Jenseits der Gegensätze” zu führen, faszinieren kann…
Rolf Fath, Badische Neueste Nachrichten, Karlsruhe, 29/1/2000
Call it other-dimensional :The 10th edition of the Other Minds Festival is determinedly eclectic and international.
… A clear, and typically multicultural, highlight was a captivating conceptual setting of Indian dhrupad vocalizing by Italian Amelia Cuni, in collusion with electronic manipulation by Werner Durand and elaborate projections by Uli Sigg…Cuni was the sole live performer in the “Ashtayama ˜ Song of Hours,” alternately sensual, bold and contemplative. The hourlong work, in its U.S. premiere, combined her intense and measured singing with swirling electronic effects. She became part dancer and performance artist, surrounded by a translucent circular screen on which Sigg’s projections conveyed the elements ˜ water, fire, weather˜ and abstractions…
Josef Woodard, The Los Angeles Times, March 9 2004
Reviews of the 10th OTHER MINDS FESTIVAL, S.Francisco
…The foundation (of the multimedia performance) was Cuni’s 10-year study of Indian Dhrupad singing. Durand’s layering of Cuni’s material, over which she continued to add live realizations, made for stunning effects, augmented by the singer-dancer’s own graceful movements and Sigg’s alarmingly beautiful visuals. This work had more possible endings than the most recent Lord of the Rings movie, in its eight “Yamas,” from “sunrise” to “deep night,” and only the returning image of a light sphere (after fiery images of cremation and explosions, which elicited gasps from the audience) signaled visually, if not musically, a ternary closure…
Marc Alburger, www.sfcv.org
….A more felicitous if romantic engagement with “other music” occurred during the festival`s superb Friday night , which represented, along with with performances by Joan Jeanrenaud and the phenomenally gifted German accordeonist Stefan Hussong , the US premiere of Amelia Cuni and Werner Durand`s Ashtayama.. Cuni is one of only a handful of Western women to seriously study Dhrupad, an austere style of classical North Indian music; whatever the technical specs of her vocal control, she sounds like a master to me, but with a vulnerability that undercuts the machismo that is mastery`s trap . For Ashtayama, she and Durand, a minimalist who makes instruments from plexiglass and PVC, created a high-concept multimedia “Song of Hours” that follows the diurnal cycle of raga from sunrise to night. Moving with hieratic precision inside a cylindrical scrim enlived with projections by Uli Sigg, Cuni performed eight songs as Durand responded, in real time, with various loops and drones built from untreated samples of Cuni`s wine-dark voice. At times , these layers of voice and image began to flutter like rose petals in the winds of time, and without budging from his seat, this reviewer simply left the hall …
Erik Davies, The WIRE Issue 243 , May 2004
…During the unfolding of the eight song suite, Amelia Cuni moves trough her choreographie from the hands and finger postures of Indian classical dance to body movements of modern dance. Yet, this travel from Orient to Occident never becomes kitsch…Enclosed by the cloth square, she can transform her singing into meditation, intimate communication with herself…
Waltraud Schwab, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 1999
The Performance “Ashtayama” at the Mediatheatre – Centre for Arts and Media Technology (ZKM) in Karlsruhe pays a magic homage to India. In this show, singing and images merge into poetic visions. This production…is definitely one of the most noteworthy performances ever seen at the Medientheatre….Many types of mixing for one evening, which has made an impression precisely because of its careful, well judged coordination of the various components…Rituals of a theatre full of atmosphere that, apart from its original function, has the power to fascinate and carry us “Beyond the opposites”.
Rolf Fath, Badische Neueste Nachrichten, 2000
…what awaited me was nothing short of sheer surprise and pure delight. The combination of Amelia Cuni’s powerful voice – completely faithful to its dhrupad training – and Werner Durand’s musical diversity, full of twists and turns of a truely unexpected kind, have resulted in one of the most invigorating colaborations in recent memory…
Jameela Siddiqi, Songlines, Winter 2000 / Spring 2001
Italian singer Amelia Cuni has a voice like a drink of mountain stream water… Always at the centre lies Cuni’s exquisite phrasing, delicate but determined, informed by prolonged and deep study of one of the world’s great vocal traditions. This is not music that borrows a few Indian flavours, but a serious attempt to make something new and expressive from within Indian art music. It’s both extraordinarily beautiful and very easy to listen to. Durand never for a moment muddies the clear water or overdramatises. If Ashtayama’s effect is dreamlike, it’s a dream in which every scene is clearly lit and the shadows have sharp edges.
Clive Bell, The Wire, April 2001