Author: Amos Chiya

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p.n-alk is an electroacoustic piece with a graphic score, and this recording is a different interpretation of the same score shown in the previous post. In this interpretation, the three sections are clearly defined, and a myriad of sound qualities exist in the different sections to produce different soundscapes for the audience. However, please listen to this version with ear/headphones of good quality for a full aural experience. Do no listen to this without headphones.

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Music by Amos Chia

p.n-alk, or pentalk, is an electroacoustic piece written for the pen and paper. The sounds of the pen clicks and writing on a thin sheet of paper on a wooden desk are recorded and manipulated on the computer to produce this short piece of music. Listen (with ear/headphones for a full aural experience) once with your eyes closed and try to imagine the soundscape that is created. Then listen again while referring back to the score (shown below). All scores are handwritten and everything in the score is drawn and created to scale eg. spaces, shapes, etc.

Finally, can you find the hidden message in this short piece?

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Text by Victor Hugo
Music by Amos Chia

Demain, dès l’aube, à l’heure où blanchit la campagne,
Je partirai. Vois-tu, je sais que tu m’attends.
J’irai par la forêt, j’irai par la montagne.
Je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps.

Tomorrow, beginning at dawn, at the time when the countryside pales,
I will leave. You see, I know that you are waiting for me.
I will go through the forest, I will go through the mountain.
I cannot remain far from you any longer.

Recorded 13/10/11, Bantock Room, Trinity College of Music, King Charles Court

Soprano: Julia Weatherley
Piano: Amos Chia