Prisoner’s Cinema (2013)
“Apocalyptic” - New York Arts (full review below)
For 2 Flutes (Flute 1 doubles on Piccolo), 2 Clarinets (Clarinet 2 doubles on Bass Clarinet), Violin, Viola, Cello, Contrabass, Electric Guitar (tuned 1/4 tone down), Piano (with metal slide, thick plastic pick) and Image Projection. 12 minutes.
Commissioned by Hotel Elefant. Music and Images composed by Richard Carrick.
Program Note:
The title refers to the light forms (visual hallucinations) which appear to prisoners in solitary confinement or those in deep meditation in the dark for long periods of time, deprived of visual stimuli. They sometimes report visual flashes that are close to real, but somehow distorted in ways they cannot precisely describe.
“The title refers to the light forms which appear to prisoners who have been in solitary confinement in the dark for a long time, deprived of visual stimuli. Meditators and astronauts have reported the experience as well. These consist of cloud-like patterns of color, which can often take on partial human shapes. Along with his music Carrick has provided his audience with his own created prisoners’ cinema. The work begins with a creepy wailing of flutes, soon accompanied by violins and other instruments, with the images appearing about three or four minutes into the work, a succession of light patterns and city buildings, mostly roofs and towers. The sound patterns become more complex, active, and agitated as the images progress, eventually suggesting fragments of melody. Distant aerial views of cities appear, and gradually, as the piece nears its end, dissolve again into instrumental color, only now rather harsher. For me, the feeling was apocalyptic, but in the continuum of the status quo, that is, without physical destruction or even the disruption of daily, or in this case nightly life. Richard Carrick conducted the work himself, with energy and steady control.”
-Michael Miller, New York Arts
Commercially released on Richard Carrick: Cycles of Evolution by New World Records.