Great Learning in Wigry - Day 2 - 21 July 2010
So, the second day of our rehearsals went very well. We performed paragraph 5 in full for the first time, and it really came together. There was a great moment of confusion between the end of the composition 'Plink' ("The music is generally pointilistic. Mostly short sounds. Mostly plucked sounds") and the beginning of the free improvisation. The nature of the segue had not been agreed, and there was general confusion about whether we had moved on this meant that 'plink' kind of disintegrated into a disordered confused improv, which only came together after 15 minutes or so.
Below is a panoramic image I took from the top of a tower in the monastery, looking out towards the end of the peninsula.
Wigry wake up call - 20 July 2010
This morning I got up early and went for a walk around the Wigry peninsula. One of the reasons I did this was to record the church bell and trumpet fanfare which can be heard at 8am each morning. i dont know whether the trumpet is live, but if it is not then it sounds very realistic. Here is a recording:
Wigry 8am trumpet call by insearchofsilence
Great Learning in Wigry - Day 1 - 19 July 2010
So, I have landed in Wigry, Poland after a 13 hour journey! It is worth it though, as the location is stunning.
This morning I joined in with the second rehearsal of paragraph 5 of The Great Learning. We we started by working on the 'Dumb Show' (a section which involves learning and choreographed movements and teaching them to each other. Then came a session working on the 'Compostions'; we split into 2 groups with Nima Gousheh (The guy who is coordinating the whole performance) taking one group, and me the other. Tomorrow we will join together to combine our realisations.
I will keep updating my flickr page with photos as the week progresses, and there is a slideshow below: http://www.flickr.com/photos/insearchofsilence/
Polish Great Learning - 24 May 2010
I am very excited about having been invited to take part in a polish performance of The Great Learning in Wigry, Poland this summer! The performance takes place between 19th-25th July here
Video - 14 November 2009
Dan Walwin and I have finally finished the film which he shot of the great learning: The Great Learning
Cardew Recordings - 12 October 2009
Recordings of the performance of The Great Learning are now available for download here: recordings