SFS Announces First SFSymphony+ of Year

poster design for LIGETI: PARADIGMS (courtesy of SFS)

This past Tuesday, the San Francisco Symphony (SFS) announced the first release of a video for on-demand streaming through the SFSymphony+ Web site. The title of the program will be LIGETI: PARADIGMS, and it will be a performance by SFS and the SFS Chorus conducted by Esa-Pekka Salonen. As the title suggests, the program will present three compositions by György Ligeti: “Lux Aeterna,” “Ramifications,” and “Clocks and Clouds.”

Readers probably know by now that Salonen has taken considerable interest in expanding the possibilities of the orchestral experience through digital collaboration. For this particular program those possibilities will be explored through the work of artificial intelligence (AI) entrepreneur Carol Reiley, who is one of the SFS Collaborative Partners. Other partners contributing to this production will be media artist Refik Anadol and John Loose, Director of Audio Production at Dolby Laboratories.

Each of the three works on the program will be given its own unique approach to interpretation:

1. “Lux Aeterna” was scored by Ligeti for a sixteen-part mixed choir. For this performance sixteen members of the SFS Chorus will be recorded on 32 separate vocal tracks. Anadol will create a “data crystal,” which will amount of a “virtual data sculpture.” That “sculpture” will be the result of analyzing and interpreting the tracks, drawing upon AI techniques deployed by Reiley. Loose will then create a binaural mix with Dolby Atmos technology, which will provide listeners with a spatial surround-sound experience through standard stereo headphones. The intention is that, through synthesized spatial separation, listeners will be more aware of the individual parts in Ligeti’s score.
2. “Ramifications” is scored for twelve individual string parts, divided into two groups of six performers. The first group consists of four violins, one viola, and one cello. The second group has three violins, one viola, one cello, and one bass, The first group is “detuned,” based on a reference pitch of 453 Hz for A, a quarter tone higher than the standard 440 Hz. In this performance the detuning will be realized digitally, meaning that the players in the first group can play in tune with those of the second group. For this performance Anadol will provide “visual accompaniment,” based on images from the Hubble Space Telescope provided by the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory.
3. “Clocks and Clouds” was originally composed for twelve female voices with accompaniment by a chamber ensemble. The composer’s intention was to depict the opposing paradigms of the predictable and mechanical (clock) and the unpredictability of clouds (and nature, in general). Anadol uses AI algorithms to synthesize original cloud formations based on analysis of seventeen million cloud images extracted from global databases. This duality of natural and synthesized clouds will reflect the dual nature of Ligeti’s score.

SFSymphony+ videos are available for viewing free of charge. However, those visiting the site for the first time are asked to register before being granted access to the content. This will involve creating a password, which will facilitate subsequent visits. The LIGETI: PARADIGMS video is scheduled for upload to the site on January 18, one week from this coming Tuesday. All programs are usually available for viewing beginning at 10 a.m. on the date of release.