URBAPHONIX – Décor Sonore
The art of listening to the music of the city
PLACE & DATE
Wed. 21 Jun at 16h, 19h & 22h: Kultorvet, Cph. K
Fri. 23 June at 16h, 19h & 21.40h: Israels Plads, Cph. K
Sun. 25 June at 16h, 19h & 21.00h: Nikolaj Plads, Cph. K
FREE
”If a sound disturbs you, listen to it” – John Cage
The city contains an abundance of sounds that we got used to not listening to. For Décor Sonore the city is an instrument, and all sounds are part of the concert, which they compose for us on the spot.
Five street-jockeystake us on a walk. Without turntable and synthesizer, but with hypersensitive microphones and loudspeakers on their backs, they capture, reveal and amplify the sounds which surround us. They awaken the sounds of the city and arrange them into a symphony which exists only in this city, in this street, in this moment of time.
The sound of the car engines, the sprays of water from the fountains, shoes walking across the cobblestones, the roller suitcase on asphalt, the flaring flag, the murmurs of the passers-by, the revolving doors at the department store. The bench is a xylophone, the grid is a harp, the container is the bass drum.
Any street can be transformed into an orchestra, a concert hall, a score for an improvised, unexpected and spectacular interpretation of the sounds of the city. An audio tour, a walking concert, a symphony of the moment, which brings out the music of our surroundings and changes the way we listen.
About Décor Sonore
Décor Sonore was founded in 1985 by two French composers, Michel Risse and Pierre Sauvageot, who compose site-specifically for and with public space. Their music is an art of the present, where the composer’s material is not abstract notes in a score, but the actual reality. And where the audiences are not passive and distant listeners, but active co-creators of the symphony of the city.
“Composing for public space requires that you realize that all sounds have a meaning. You must learn to decode this invisible environment as a gigantic satellite dish for our universe. There’s nothing obscure or abstract about it. All sounds are there, concretely, and they show us better than any score what’s going on in the world.” – Michel Risse, founder and director of Décor Sonore.
“The pouring rain didn’t stop the five street DJ’s. They played on almost everything that could be played on. Staircase railings and fences, parking houses, and everything culminated in a fun and sparkling percussion experience at the fountains. Décor Sonore was a refreshing, international breathe of fresh air in Copenhagen’s city life and a chance to stop for a moment and listen to the city’s sounds in a new way.” Teater 1, June 2017
“Décor Sonore took the many spectators to a magical world full of sounds created by the urban habitat… A particularly remarkable performance thanks to its high quality and originality.” Le Reveil Cantalien
“The virtuosity of the company is not to be mistaken. Brilliantly they get us to listen to the city. Brimming with enthusiasm and dedication the performance turns into a game where you can contribute.” Kouran d’Art
Duration 45 min.
Credits
Artistic direction: Michel Risse
Artistic team: Damien Boutonnet, Gonzalo Campo, Benoît Meurant, Emeric Renard, Gaëlle Salomon
Technical direction: Renaud Biri
Staging collaboration: Martine Rateau
Costumes: Fabienne Desfleches
Construction: Achil Bras
Photo: Maja Nydal Eriksen
Photo documentation by Maja Nydal Eriksen
21 June – Kultorvet, Hauser Plads, Nina Bangs Plads
23 June – Israels Plads
25 June – Amager Torv, Højbro Plads, Nikolaj Plads
