Program note

The title of the piece refers to a phrase I’ve isolated and chosen from Ernst Bloch's magnum opus Das Prinzip Hoffnung (The Principle of Hope). Bloch describes music as a force that, while grounded in canon and tradition and drawing from established forms and norms, also (constantly) reaches towards something unachieved—a future state of self-realization or "self- shaping" that has not yet been fully formed or comprehended, remaining in a constant state of becoming. The key here is the idea of music as an ongoing, emergent process—an experience striving for realization but not yet a fully formed or completed entity. Drawing a parallel with the Fourier transform, the composition mirrors the process of deconstructing complex phenomena into fundamental elements, akin to re-discovering and tracing the impact of sinusoidal waves and white noise on certain surfaces. This approach embodies the Blochian quest for origins and the potentiality inherent in exploration, laying the foundation for both structural and conceptual inquiry.

Central to the work is the use of low-register sinusoidal sounds (33–340 Hz), processed high-frequency sinusoidal sounds (up to 16,000 Hz) and white noise, transmitted through tactile audio transducers and sound exciters mounted on two bass drums. These devices allow for various sound transformations and modulation by varying the signals sent to them. The integration of tactile and auditory elements creates a dynamic interplay between physical phenomena and their perceptual effects, aligning with the conceptual emphasis on unpredictability and flux. Furthermore, the analysis of specific sounds, including certain multiphonics on bass flute and contrabass clarinet, as well as specific instrumental preparations and reconfigurations on Violin and Violoncello, and timbral blurring, inform the treatment of sonic materials in this work. The inherent pitch fluctuations, examined through audio analysis—always a few cents below or above absolute pitch—serve as a model for sound’s unpredictable and dynamic nature. These characteristics not only inspire the compositional process and the formal scaffold of the work but also reflect Bloch’s concept of embracing fluidity and openness within the sonic medium.