'The Metalization of a Dream' is an open-form composition responding to the dada and surrealist-inspired collages of Eduardo Paolozzi, in which original and found materials are combined. Drawing upon John Cage's notion of the 'coexistence of dissimilars', MacLeod explores ways in which collage techniques, namely linear or simultaneous juxtapositions of distinct materials and resultant instances of happenstance, can be used in composition. A key area of research in the work's development was the concept of Spatial Music, namely the use of physical space as a musical parameter (Henry Brant, 1955). In this instance the stage and auditoria are forgone in favour of an egalitarian space in which performer and audience intermingle.
The outcome in 'Metalization' is to:
• clarify and contrast complex textures, as well as defuse perceived dissonances between juxtaposed materials (Albert Bregman, 1990);
• challenge and reinterpret traditional concert paradigms and related topographies; • and provide the audience agency in how they experience the work.
Electronics underpin the above themes by investigating ways in which sound, in the form of live radio and environmental ambient recordings can be used to evoke extrinsic identities and spatialities beyond the confines of the performance venue by way of soundmarks (Raymond Murray Schaefer, 1977) and sound source-bonding (Denis Smalley, 1997). Moreover, live DSP and spatialisation of the ensemble is employed to enmesh and accentuate the timbral identity of distinct materials, which helps articulate juxtapositions and form a discourse between sound (radio/ambient recordings) and acoustically-composed elements.
The composition was researched and developed through a series of workshops with Galvanize Ensemble and Fretwork over a period of 8 months, leading up to the premiere at The Lit & Phil, Newcastle on 12 February 2019.
