This thesis provides a thorough discussion of "Man Will Not Outlive the Weather", a chamber opera for mezzo-soprano, flute, cello, piano, percussion, and electronics; composed by the author between September 2016 and February 2017. In addition to the live ensemble, this work features spatialized acousmatic sound scores that accompany the musicians throughout. The score, acousmatic elements, and libretto for the piece all take their inspiration from one topic: weather. The acousmatic sound scores are largely comprised of field recordings of weather events. These same recordings were then subjected to a process of instrumental resynthesis, a technique frequently used by composers of spectral music, to remap the sound of the field recordings onto the acoustic ensemble. This compositional process was enhanced using Orchids, a computer-assisted orchestration program created by IRCAM. Each weather event was also carefully considered in terms of its temporal evolution and gestural content—providing references for both spatial cues and narrative shape. The author discusses her work in relation to concepts of materiality, assemblage, and agency set against the backdrop the Anthropocene. She considers how the agile, migratory, and associative properties of sound might contribute to the cultivation of new perceptual models that would be able to holistically engage weather, climate change, and the Anthropocene itself.
Vistein, Amber,
"Man Will Not Outlive the Weather: A Sonic Assemblage for the Anthropocene"
(2017).
Music Theses and Dissertations.
Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library.
https://doi.org/10.7301/Z0JS9NWW
