CASS 1999 Underground Lake at St-Leonard

This was the first in a long series of events starting 20 years ago. I had a friend who was a guide at the underground lake and I therefore had the possibility of going to the lake from 6.30 am to 8.00 am before the tourists arrived.

I obviously jumped at the chance to set up an event and so I invited Richard Jean (double bass), Jean-Luc Pillet (a trumpeter from Geneva) and a didgeridoo player called La Fleur with the results that you can now listen to.

The performance led to a number of discussions; on the place, the relationship of the place to the musician, how sound moves through the space (how sound is broadcast through the space), the question of how to record such sounds, the emotional response to and the rational understanding of the site etc etc. With these questions and discussions, the first stones, the foundations of Dolmen were laid.

 

Themes

Plato’s allegory of the cave, exterior noise vs interior calm. Sound reflects from stone while water filters sound, music that is completely acoustic in a natural setting, shadows and light, reflections and the wall as screen.

Underground Lake | Saint-Leonard | 1999

Sound

Richard Jean | Frédérick Quennoz | Laurent Constantin | Jean-Luc Pillet