Infra E-resource pack 2018

AURAL SETTING
96
Max Richter composed the music for Infra and Chris Ekers did the sound
design in the theatre. When composing the music, Richter said he was
looking for the maximum richness and intensity with the fewest elements.
Alongside a solo piano, he used his own string quartet but added an
‘additional cello, various synthesizers and lots of toys!’
(Max Richer in interview for BBC Bitesize, 2010)
Richter collected a lot of found sounds, one example being clips of shortwave
radio recordings. The radio sounds have a storytelling quality and suggest
real life. In line with the theme of the piece, there are lots of stories and voices
happening at the same time on different radio stations, but they are unaware
of each other. The music was composed to echo and enrich the mood of the
different scenes/vignettes within the piece. He selected and isolated particular
aspects of the found sounds and electronically manipulated them to create
a musical gesture and rhythm.
The found sounds are used as the background radiation of sound to create
a particular mood or suggest a particular environment. The live music is a
foreground event that sits on top of the other sounds, relating to the dance
being viewed on stage. This layered effect informs the richness and different
levels of intensity of sound that directly relates to the richness and complexity
of movement on stage. As with the lighting design, the music changes when
a new vignette is introduced, evoking a new scene and different atmosphere.
Although the live music has a clear pulse (that changes tempo throughout)
for the dancers to follow, the melody and movement does not often have a
direct relationship. The feel and atmosphere of the music is interpreted with
movement instead. The sound is played back in a three-dimensional way,
surrounding the audience in the same way that we hear sound in everyday life.
Samantha Raine and Edward
Watson in Infra ©ROH/Andrej
Uspenski, 2012
As with the digital display, there is an element of chance with the live electronic
sound design. Although the live composed music by the string quintet and
pianist is the same every time, the electronic aspect is mixed in real time and
might be different with every performance. This adds another sense of reality
for the dancers on stage, since in real life we can’t always predict what we will
hear, and when, as we walk down the street.