A parallel walk

Dec 08, 2023, 08:34 PM

"This piece is composed as a soundwalk, as its initial field recording. The journey unfolds between two parallel worlds – that of the sound recorder and the composer. The recording that I used for this piece is a soundwalk along the path leading to Sumela Monastery in the Black Mountain in Trabzon, Turkey, recorded by Uğur Aslan. 

"I chose this recording because the recording captures an intriguing blend of human voices, birds, and musical instrument (kemençe, which is also a Persian instrument), making it rich material for composition. Additionally, a significant portion of my listening memories in my home country, Iran, revolves around moments of mountain hikes.

"A surprise unfolded as I began composing: some of the passersby we hear in the recording speak Persian! Finally, my personal challenge was to use the original recording as the only sound source, so the piece is entirely composed based on this recording without any external sounds."

Trabzon monastery reimagined by Azadeh Nilchiani.