Saab Fanfare by Amber Meulenijzer

In October 2022 Musica Impulscentrum invited Amber Meulenijzer to make a composition in collaboration with the local fanfare bands of Pelt, a small municipality in the green east of Belgium. These fanfare bands are deeply rooted in Belgian culture. Even in the tiniest villages one finds at least one or several of these ensembles.

The result of this confluence: a procession, a slow paced moving composition for brass instruments, performed both live and played back through twelve speakers mounted on top of an old Saab 900.

The composition was presented during the bi-annual OORtreders festival for sound art. Starting at 9am, the happening meandered trough Pelt, ending at Dommelhof, the local cultural centre where the festival took place. During the procession the musicians improvised in the same tonalities as the continuous chord played trough the speakers mounted on the slow-moving Saab car. Notes are stretched, music is slowed down and habits are broken in search of the possibilities of each instrument and player. An organic moving soundpiece, breathing in and out through the morning fog.

The slow moving sound enters the senses. People join the march by following their ears. A spontaneous tableau forms. A scene that could be part of a local tradition. Yet something is off. A Roy Anderson-like eeriness fills the space, the smell of burned gasoline slowly adds its flavor to the piece. Is this a funeral parade - in major chords? Or are we waiting for the arrival of something yet to be determined?

Amber Meulenijzer (°1994) is a sound and installation artist from Belgium. She creates work with theatrical, cinematograhic and poetic elements. The role of silence and spectator are investigated, playing with presence / non presence. Where does sound meet material? When does the ear guide the eye? What does the body need in order to hear? Who sings? Who listens?

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