HĀGÂ (2018)
Hāgâ (Hebrew, verb)
- To sigh or murmur
- To meditate.
For solo performer (detuned zither) and electronics (tape).
Premiered on the 20th August, 2018, at the Hackett Hall, St George’s College, Perth.
Full duration: 6 minutes 15 seconds.
The origins of the word meditation can be traced to the Old Testament, in which the Hebrew word hāgâ appears to signify the sustained practice of mental and emotional clarity. When the Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek, hāgâ became melete. The Latin translation of hāgâ/melete – meditatio – first appeared in the fourth century Christian Bible.
This piece is a response to Pauline Oliveros’ concept of Deep Listening practice, defined in her own words as “listening to everything all the time and reminding yourself when you’re not listening”. The work alludes to meditative and ritual practices, exploring the ways in which these may manifest in music.
The audio component of this work comprises of field recordings created in May 2018 in Margaret River, WA. The majority are naturally occurring sounds. Sine tone frequencies at the bottom of the human hearing range are constantly present in this work. These, combined with the spatialized element of the piece, contribute to a broader physical experience of the work, and a multi-sensory understanding of Deep Listening.
