VOLUMINUM
An hour concert presentation where Ligeti’s organ work “Volumina” (1966) and Cat Hope’s “ Voluminum” (2023) are presented side by side, with the animated scores of both works shared with the audience. Performed by a 5 piece Super Luminum.
The premiere of VOLUMINUM at the Melbourne Town Hall, November 2023, performed by Super Luminum - showing the score and close up of the organists hands.
Stewart Smith performing Ligeti’s Volumina at the Melbourne Town Hall, showing the score and a close up of him performing.
VOLUMINIUM (2023)
VOLUMINUM is a homage to that ground-breaking organ solo, exploring the energy specific to the grand organ alongside more modern instruments from rock and orchestral music. Developing from the strong influence of Ligeti’s work on Hope’s own, VOLUMINUM transforms Ligeti’s mass textural effects on organ by adding amplified bass and electric guitars, radical harp and large percussion including multiple bass drums, large gongs and tubular bells. Hope’s approach is inspired by songwriters such as Scott Walker and Low, the approaches of composers such as Giacinto Scelisi and Ennio Morricone, and the culminative effect of organ works such as Volumina and Messiaen’s “Apparition de l'Église Éternelle" (1932). The work was commissioned by the City of Melbourne and premiered at a crowded Melbourne Town Hall on November 30, 2023. The notation for this piece, in full colour, is also shared with the audience, alongside close ups of the organ machinations during the performance
VOLUMINA (1966)
“Volumina” is one of the most intense solo concert organ experiences – it uses more notes at one time than any other work, with some reviewers calling it noise music in the vein of Japanese artist Merzbow (Gilles, 2009). In this performance, it is performed with the pieces’ graphic notation in view for audiences to follow along - presented in an animated, moving format devised for this performance.
