apeiron
sonic performance blurring boundaries between abstract radio play without words, sonic art and experimental music
commissioned by German public service broadcaster SWR
'The origin of all things is the Boundless.' (Anaximander of Miletus, 610 - 546 BCE, fragment)
apeiron is composed of elemental Sounds, timbres interlocking to form abstract environments portraying power – relentless power - the primal pulsings of seamless successions with chance occurrences of stirrings, interruptions, mergings, eddies and backwash. It acknowledges life is movement and subject to constant flux, and portrays sensual unchanging change, irregular regularity, something approaching and something departing, the already here while almost forming. It dives deep into the shared essences of all things, lands on a lonely atoll, takes flight again to new environs. There is something about letting go - or going with it...
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apeiron’s genesis was in Stromness, the small port in Orkney, Scotland where rhythms depend on shapeshifting tides and weathers, where legends are inscribed deep in dialect, where sea-going vessels throb and creak, and where oceans, winds and lands ripple as at the cosmos’ edge. Time surrounded by tides is different from land-time. The Ocean is continually swelling, surging, retreating – it demonstrates the immensity of life, and shows what it means to contemplate existence.
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Audio recordings of Orcadian sea-moods were made as a way of entering these thoughts for an as-yet unformed soundwork, and residents and visitors to Stromness were offered the chance to be recorded reading aloud tide-times for the town. Twenty-two volunteer voices came forward and all play a part in apeiron. |
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SWR, the second largest public service broadcaster in Germany, gave the opportunity to develop the piece. In the recording studio in Baden-Baden, Berlin-based experimental vocal artist Audrey Chen breathed life into other-worldly elements, adding to the scope. SWR studio engineers Daniel and Robin navigated the technical challenges of weaving together audio clips to create a stereo track where movement was a prime consideration. All involved helped shape a universe purely through Sound, a co-creation with the Listener’s imagination.
Two-channel apeiron had its premiere broadcast on SWR Kultur, the radio channel focusing on new and classical music, jazz, features, plays and readings. 
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apeiron was developed further with SWR’s support when the opportunity was offered to work on a live multi-channel performance for ARD Hörspieltage. This annual three-day all-German festival celebrating Listening, radio and sonic art is held annually at ZKM (Centre for Art and Media, Karlsruhe), a world-renowned research institution and public-facing gallery for digital arts conducting, amongst other topics, cutting-edge research in 3D sound.
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The work was programmed for ZKM’s Klangdom (Sound Dome), a state-of-the-art space for sound spatialisation incorporating fifty-one speakers to present fully immersive Sound experiences.
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apeiron was developed in situ in collaboration with SWR Producer Frank Halbig, and the performance also included Leona moving live vocalisations by Audrey Chen around the space. In the extremely low-light setting with subtle coloured lighting changes (even Audrey could barely be seen) Listeners were enabled to fully engage their imaginations and enter their own world of interpretation of the Sounds. |
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A binaural recording made of the live event allowed some of the increased sonic movement to be captured in two-channels, although of course not the physicality of the live Listening experience.
An interview given and recorded live after the presentation with Leona, Audrey Chen and Frank Halbig was broadcast on SWR Kultur immediately after the premiere airing of apeiron. |
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Composer & Director: Leona Jones Field recordings & tam-tam: Leona Jones Vocal soloist (live and recorded): Audrey Chen Voices of volunteers from Stromness, Orkney, Scotland (Thorfinn, Sylvia, Sydney, Rebecca, Rachel, Pamela, Nick, Nathan, Keely, Jenny, Gunilla, Fraser, Fiona, Fiona, Ella, Darrell, Ciska, Chris, Catherine, Cary, Antony, Alison) Klangdom, Karlsruhe mix: Leona Jones & Frank Halbig Editor & Producer: Frank Halbig Sound & technology Baden-Baden: Daniel Senger & Robin Zwirner Sound & technology Karlsruhe: Sebastian Schottke & Lars Michael Storm Lighting Karlsruhe: Hans Gass A SWR/ZKM Hertz Lab 2024 production Stromness Tide Times 2017 courtesy of UKHO & Dick Dolby |
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apeiron (extract) 4' 39" of 29' 02" listen with headphones or external speakers for best effect