Event

Shape, Form, Texture

The composition for four wind instruments and tape was created on the occasion of Giel Louws’ solo exhibition Shape and Form at SEA Foundation Tilburg. FHK student composer, vocalist and producer Samuel de Vries created a new composition called Shape, Form, Texture, which was performed on 23 December 2014 at Fontys Chapel in Tilburg

Starting point for Samuel was to work with independent elements that, in combination, made up the composition. Samuel de Vries was inspired, because he saw this element-based unity in Giel Louws’ art work. The composer was aware that working and combining different element, might result in a fragmented whole. Something the composer called a ‘sound collage’. To enhance the randomness of the different elements, Samuel decided to combine music with tape, to bring non-musical sounds into the composition and music.

It is clear that a fundamental experience of sound is Samuel’s core value in composing. “All sorts of complex structures can be at work under the surface of a composition, and I really dig it, but in the end it is about triggering emotional responses and I believe that an intuitive experience of music is key to that.”This attitude towards composing becomes clear when he explains: “The Western musical culture is one that has gotten increasingly more complex, and over time has lost it’s touch with a primal source of instinct that everyone, ultimately, is subject to. While it has brought a lot of interesting music, it can – at least from some perspective – also be seen as degenerating. But music is a form of communication, and if the receiver on the other side of the telephone doesn’t speak your language, then what is the point in calling?”