‘Black is the Colour’ er nyeste i en rekke produksjoner lagd i samarbeid mellom Alpaca og komponist/sanger/performancekunstner Alwynne Pritchard.
Black is the Colour is a sixty-minute performance for violin, cello, piano (Alpaca Ensemble) and voice (the composer). Throughout the piece, the two string players create sound in retrospectiveresponse to visual images. Their reactions are guided so as to be visceral and physical, rather thanintellectual or musical. Simultaneously following audio scores disseminated through in-earheadphones and wearing ear protectors, their experience of the sounds they make is contained asmuch as possible within their own bodies. Their objective is to feel rather than to listen. Or rather,to listen through their bodies, rather than with their ears only. Seated opposite them (and behindthe audience), their hearing uncompromised by audio scores or ear protectors, thepianist andvocalist play ‘into’ or ‘within’the sonic environment created by the two string players: it contains,guides and sometimes inhibits the music that they make throughout. The text usd by the vocalist isfrom a traditional Scottish folk song.
Black is the color of my true love’s hair
His face so soft and wondrous fair
The purest eyes
And the strongest hands
I love the ground on where he stands
I love the ground on where he stands
Oh I love my lover
And where he goes
Yes, I love the ground on where he goes
And still I hope
That the time will come
When he and I will be as one
When he and I will be as one