DARK MATTER, scored for an ensemble of 19 performers (including soprano, electric guitar and a vast array of percussion) plus live and pre-recorded electronics, sets secret Egyptian texts carved on the walls of sarcophagi in the pyramids of 2400BC - possibly the oldest known religious texts in the world - alongside fragments from Lucretius and other Greek writers on the nature of matter, the stars and other worlds and ending with Samuel Beckett's 'Sounds'.
For the first performance of the work Barrett collaborated with Norwegian artist Per Inge Bjørlo; the site was transformed into multiple architectural/ acoustical spaces. Viewers/listeners were invited to form their own imaginary narrative and to create a pathway through a labyrinth of installations and sound-sources.
Texts for DARK MATTER (download PDF)
Read an interview between Richard Barrett and Daryl Buckley about DARK MATTER
ELISION
CIKADA
Deborah Kayser mezzo-soprano
Carl Rosman clarinets
Daryl Buckley electric guitar
Christian Eggen conductor
AUDIO
Catalogue No.: NMC D183
Release date: 12 November 2012