International Contemporary Art Exhibition
Clarens/Montreux (CH) – 16.11. - 21.12.2012

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Thursday 19 November 7:00 pm
Friday 30 November 8:00 pm
Saturday 1 December 8:00 pm
Sunday 2 December 5:30 pm

The city which (Chicago 1942/2012)
By the ensemBle baBel / Théâtre l’Oriental Vevey / 2012-2013

In 1942 the American composer John Cage wrote a score for a radiophonic piece The city wears a slouch hat in collaboration with the American poet Kenneth Patchen. The text has a Dadaistic spirit and is written in 1940s slang. It describes the urban wanderings of a character called “The Voice”. Cage’s project was to construct a symphony of noises, including recording made in the streets of Chicago. But the technicians in those days declared the project impossible to carry out and the composer ended up writing a much simplified work for percussion.
In August 2012, to mark Cage’s centenary, Anne Gillot and Laurent Estoppey set off, microphone in hand into the streets of Chicago and brought back the sound material for this show where baBel dreams the impossible dream: to use today’s tools to create a work to measure up to the hope projected by John Cage in 1942.

Founded in 2006 by Olivier Cuendet, the ensemBle baBel hopes to present to the public a new way of mixing ancient music with contemporary music, along with a more personal approach involving improvisation.
www.babelensemble.ch
www.johncage100.ch

Composition and sound: Anne Gillot and Laurent Estoppey

Anne Gillot : recorder | bass clarinet
Laurent Estoppey : saxophones
Luc Müller : percussion
Antonio Albanese : guitar
Olivier Cuendet : keyboards
Noëlle Reymond : double bass
Edouard Chapuis : sound engineer
Anthony Gerber : lights