TORPOR

as part of CLOUDS ON CLEAR SKY

The score addresses the difficulty to relate to the abstraction of the covid-19 pandemic on a global scale on one side, and the falling in a period of torpor on a personal scale on the other side. The composition is built both, on the Robert Koch Institute’s statistical data of the number of deaths due to the pandemic in Germany as well as on photographs of everyday life during this period. The first part of the score was based on the four seasons of the year 2020 and was presented as part of “Composite by the Numbers” (curated by Dayang Yraola). For CLOUDS ON CLEAR SKY, the score will be extended by 3 additional seasons corresponding to the duration until the launch of the project in September. For this edition, the piece - which can be performed by 3 to 13 musicians - will be interpreted by Laure Boer (dan bau), Pina Bettina Rücker (quartz sound bowls made of silicon) and Evelyn Saylor (vocals), all three bringing their own interpretation and musical particularities to the project. Each musician chooses a line. Where there is a light, there is a sound. This can mean volume or intensity, depending on the instrument. The ellipses are total silences referring to the amount of deaths in Germany. The photos and the seasons act as a narrative frame for the compositions. In this frame one comes back to very basic transcriptions of sensations: where you have light, you have sound. A way to transcribe the feeling of torpor, uncertainty and the necessity to move forward each day, step by step.
TORPOR is part of the project CLOUDS ON CLEAR SKY, a series of events and performances on finitude, death and grief.

• Laure Boer: »TORPOR« (2021)

Laure Boer, dan bau
Pina Bettina Rücker, quartz sound bowls
Evelyn Saylor, vocals

Based on statistical data on the number of deaths due to the Covid-19 pandemic, TORPOR addresses the discrepancy between the abstraction of numbers and the personal experience. Light and darkness in the graphic score translate to sound and silence.