Caveau Phonocamptique (2020)
Instrumentation: Cello w/electronics
Duration: 14'
Commissioned for Katinka Kleijn by Christine Watkins, Daniel Kuruna & Justine Jentes, Marcus Doshi, and Linda & Bipin Doshi
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NOTES
Beneath the central crossing in Noyon Cathedral (in northern France) there is a curious structure: a vaulted space some 3.5 x 4.5 meters, accessible by a tiny stairway from the middle of the sanctuary. In three of the walls are enclosed a total of sixty-four clay pots, mounted flush, with their mouths facing outward into the room. Called a “phonocamptique” or sound-reflecting chamber, it is among the clearest examples of Medieval acoustic treatment: experiments with container or “Helmholtz” resonance first described by Vitruvius around 15 B.C.E. in his treatise De architectura, I first explored the archeological record of these concepts in my string quartet Echeia in 2016.
The vases at Noyon have resonant frequencies in the lower range of the male human voice - the first-position range of the cello. Depending on the proximity of the listener they can either subtly amplify or absorb those frequencies. When writing Caveau Phonocamptique, I imagined the cellist, playing in a somewhat magical realist version of this subterranean chamber, finding and unleashing these deliciously microtonal resonances. Written for Katinka Kleijn for premiere at the Frequency Festival at Constellation (Chicago), it uses at least 3 banks of loudspeakers or amps, placed to give the player and audience this unique sonic perspective of being within this extraordinary space.
