Negrón: Disco giratorio de palabras

Description

For piano, MIDI keyboard (one player) and prerecorded electronics.

Disco giratorio de palabras (Rotating Record of Words) is a new piece for piano and electronics commissioned by and written for Eunbi Kim inspired by shared conversations about our personal experiences surrounding language and its significance in the construction of identity. The piece explores language as a powerful system that shapes personal and collective identities and relationships within the diaspora navigating through different experiences. in this myriad of encounters, language can act as a form of asserting one's identity, as a means for creative expression, as a struggle or barrier for communication, as a way to connect to others, as a means towards assimilation, or even as a threat to one's safety unreasonably leading to prejudice, micro-aggressions and even violence from others. The spoken-word audio in the piece comes from cylinder transfers from the International College of Languages' Common Sense Method of Practical Linguistry: Spanish Lessons No. 11 & 12 released between 1912 and 1929. These were played in phonographs and used for the instruction of foreign languages covering basic vocabulary and short phrases in various languages including Spanish. I used the natural rhythm of the spoken words and their corresponding pronunciation to generate the melodic and rhythmic material for the electronics and the piano. Intuitively playing with layering as well as the isolation and abstraction of words, I intend to consider the complexities of language and meaning construction by reflecting on how this plays into feelings of belonging, exclusion, confusion, longing, self-doubt, and individual and collective resilience.