San Juan de la Cruz: Noche Oscura

Verse 2

A oscuras y segura,

por la secreta escala, disfrazada,

¡oh dichosa ventura!,

a oscuras y en celada,

estando ya mi casa sosegada.

Saint John of Cross: Dark Night

Verse 2

In darkness, certain,

By disguised and secret ladder

— O happy fate! —

In darkness, concealed,

While my house was calm.

Translated by Eric Rosenbloom. Copyright 1999

Concealed belongs to a series of pieces inspired by poetry of St. John of Cross. These compositions explore instrumental sonorities that lie on the border of hearing. In Concealed, flute predominantly produces colored noise. The concealed pitch becomes heard as the color of timbre. The electronic part uses the MAX/MSP implementation of the flute physical model designed by Perry Cook. The model is used to augment the sonorities of the physical flute through extending its registral and textural arenas. The model enables expanding the flute’s parameters to unrealistic dimensions and consequently producing novel sonorities. In addition to playing the instrument, the flute player annunciates the poem through the instrument. The instrument is amplified and digitally processed in MAX/MSP. Its signal functions as a controller for individual parameters of the flute model.

To hear some audio examples, click here: Example 1 (E. Ryan, flute, MP3, 940Kb), Example 2 (E. Ryan, flute, MP3, 940Kb).

Click to view the score exmples.