Éliane Radigue – “Occam Delta XV”

This binaural audio production, especially produced for MaerzMusik’s 2021 online edition, presents Éliane Radigue’s “Occam Delta XV” in a yet unheard manner: Quatuor Bozzini performs the half-hour long string quartet in the presence of ten listeners, fitted with binaural microphones and distributed around the quartet in Montréal’s Église du Gesù (observing physical distance). Each binaural recording thus captures a unique spatial experience of Radigue’s composition – a listening experience that mirrors the sonic depth of Radigue’s music with high spatial resolution.

“Occam Delta XV” has been composed with and for Quatuor Bozzini. It is part of Radigue’s extensive “Occam” cycle of instrumental compositions. Its large spectrum of vibrating undulations is inspired by a mythical ocean found in David Duncan’s (1913 – 1999) science-fiction novel, “Occam’s Razor”, as well as by William of Ockham’s (ca. 1288 – 1347) influential methodological principle expressed most succinctly in his own words, “The simplest, the best.”

Éliane Radigue
Occam Delta XV
for string quartet (2018)

Cast

Quatuor Bozzini
Clemens Merkel violin
Alissa Cheung violin
Stéphanie Bozzini viola
Isabelle Bozzini cello

Lucie Bazzo lighting design
John Klepko sound recording
Robin Pineda Gould video director
Nicolas Godmaire production director

Recorded on 7.3.2021 in Espace Aline-Letendre (Église du Gesù), Montréal