Ausiàs Garrigós Morant bass clarinet
Auclair (UK/Rwanda, 1978)
Munganyinka is a Transformer World Premiere (2020) 6’
Earlier this year, the Riot Ensemble launched Zeitgeist, a new series of commissions responding to the worldwide lockdown that hit the UK in March. In an attempt to keep music flowing and work for composers circulating, the group teamed up with the eponymous Zeitgeist, an online gallery that presents contemporary work through a digital lens. Through this project, they commissioned seven young composers across the globe, committing to performances of their work presented in Zeitgeist’s online space, and also via YouTube.
As the pandemic continues to roll on, bringing with it major complications for working musicians, hcmf// is proud to join forces with the Riot Ensemble to deliver a second wave of Zeitgeist Commissions. The six pieces, selected by the festival together with Riot, were written for solo performances by members of the group, and will receive their video premiere at hcmf// 2020. As ever, we’re proud to be working alongside the Riot Ensemble to find a practical way to give musicians a hint of reality by bringing about new paid opportunities, as well as unique showcases for their work
Auclair has appeared across a staggering range of projects. Alongside making abstract electro-pop records, she has taken part in the bee-themed opera The Swarm, contributed to Beck’s Song Reader project, and has been part of a live rework of the Afro-Brazilian classic Black Orpheus. She has also explored sound art, drawing it into her composition with works such as Four Points Talk, a piece built from recordings of buildings, and Dawn Chorus Live, an exploration of birdsong with Marcus Coates.
‘Ma’s heartbeat is the first rhythm I heard. Ma’s voice is the first music I have known. Munganyinka is a Transformer is a retelling of a memory. It is also a homage to my Ma’s voice. It is the early 1960s, she is 14 or 15 years old, a refugee from the genocide that has recently started in Rwanda. She is trying to return to DRC by road after one of many attempts to get back to Rwanda to find her family. Her only way out of the country is a bridge on the border, over the Rusizi river. When she gets there, bullets rain down as different factions shoot each other from the other side of the bridge. It’s just as dangerous to go back, so she decides to pretend to be a dog, in the belief that they won’t shoot at her. She drops down on all fours, walks the length of the bridge under constant gunfire, and makes it across to safety unharmed. Her power to transform amazes me.’ – Auclair
Co-commissioned by the Riot Ensemble and hcmf// in partnership with Zeitgeist Online Gallery