Hólo(s)

Hólos (Ancient Greek ὅλος) is open to multiple interpretations. It refers to the presence and interdependence of all the parts as a ‘Whole’ (a total), transcending the mere sum of all the parts. Hólos may refer to the ‘body in its entirety’ as well as the ‘Altogether’ working as a system – here the Whole. In sacred writings, ‘Hólos may also describe the ‘wholeness’ or the ‘to be made whole’, i.e. the actions of restoration and healing.

Inspired by these interpretations, the piece explores air (souffle) as a form of energy and complex physical and acoustic phenomenon of which every single (micro-) aspect impacts the whole resulting sound and texture. Throughout the work, the various individual instrumental forms of air merge and become a whole body, a ‘metabolism’ of sound that creates a wider textural element. Textures become circulating ‘hybrid’ masses that are developed as flux and forces, using the energy of air (souffle) to create a system based on its multiplicity (‘Hólos’).

Respiration acts as a multilevel parameter. The inhalation-exhalation alternation principle (and associated tension-rest) ‘irrigates’ the work: it generates movements, energies, and articulations and phrases; it generates the structure, integrating friction as a tool that emerges to form a second core element (‘waves’ of air) that become embedded within the very process of respiration.

https://soundcloud.com/martin-loridan/holos

Hólo(s) pour ensemble s’attache à explorer une apparente contradiction : la fragilité du souffle instrumental, et son association, récurrente en art, religion et philosophie, avec les notions de flux, force et énergie. L’oeuvre bâtit un système d’orchestration utilisant la granulation et la friction de manière systématique pour construire un métabolisme – un « tout » (« Hólos ») dont la masse génère un mouvement constant, une énergie : un « flux » de respiration. La forme de l’œuvre elle-même (micro et macro structure) est bâtie sur l’alternance d’inhalation et exhalation, explorant la double association entre air et friction. La configuration de l’ensemble évolue peu à peu à travers l’espace, formant des « polarités résonantes ».