Kasper T. Toeplitz is a headstrong Polish-French composer and bassist who situates himself somewhere in the no man’s land between academic composition and electronic new music or noise music. Central to his vision of the music world is “electronic thinking”: “the younger generations have certainly heard more music played through electronics and speakers than written repertoire, based on pitches and played by acoustic instruments, without amplification. And even though they are now returning to acoustic formations, their conception of instrumentation is not the same as it used to be. This is what I call “electronic thinking,” a mutation in the desires of the musician, in the places where sound and practice are thought. The electronic world has shaken the pyramid schemes of classical music, those of the composer in relation to the musicians, the conductor and the untouchable score. I really feel that this situation is changing. It does not question the validity of musical notation, but I would say that the burden of creation is more evenly distributed, or at least that the responsibility is common.” (interview with M. Tosi, Nov. 3, 2021, hemisphereson.com)
With his new creation Zones de Profondeurs, Toeplitz explores a musical form that is both concert and installation: in an “other” place, where the usual separation between stage and hall, between audience and performers is removed, the two are on the same level, close together. The ‘island’ arrangement of the instruments and speakers, and the spatialization of the sound alter the listening conditions.
The original inspiration for the general climate of this project is located in the imagination of underwater spaces, in particular the so-called mesophotic zones, i.e., those shallow areas, up to a depth of about 150 meters, where light still reaches, albeit with great difficulty, but which have been little explored. The music – played live by a small group of electrified and spatialized instruments – is stacked atop a dense electronic framework, also generated in real time. Electronic and instrumental sounds intersect, sometimes heavy and deep, while high harmonics and fleeting clouds of sound break through in raw clarity.
In a dim, semi-dark space, fragments of electronic images and flashes of light shimmer, like instruments in their own right, albeit soundlessly. Welcome to this special space where senses can soar to their hearts’ content!
Composition, e-bass and images: Kasper T. Toeplitz – Percussion: Didier Casamitjana – Celli: Brice Catherin – Video-immersion: Gilles Paté – Lighting design: Sophie Lepoutre – Sound projection: Zak Cammoun – Realisation electronics: Oudom Southammavong (Art Zoyd) and Patrick Delges (Centre Henri Pousseur)
Zones de profondeurs is a production of Art Zoyd Studios, in co-production with Le Phénix Scène Nationale de Valenciennes, supported by l’Espace Pasolini (Valenciennes), Centre Henri Pousseur (Liège), La Drac Hauts-de-France, Conseil Régional Hauts-de-France, Valenciennes Métropole,Ville de Valenciennes and Ministère de la Culture.
