Translating Visual Ideas into Auditory Spaces

By Skyler Baysa

Being part of the Stay-at-Home Symposium was a really amazing opportunity. It presented a small challenge as well: being the first time I had ever used another piece of art as inspiration for a composition. The photograph the Souvenirs de Chaises was based off of, "Chairs of Paris" by André Kertész, was chosen by the performer and collaborator Julia Hamos. As is fairly evident in the piece, I was inspired a lot by the famous Gymnopédie no. 1 of Erik Satie, primarily due to the photograph being taken in Paris, as well as the ambient nature of both the photograph and Satie's music. Julia and I also discussed different interpretations of the photograph with Julia, especially the chair in relation to people, so it was a goal of mine for the music to embody the memories of those who've sat in the chairs depicted. A tour through a Parisian park, I suppose.

My following composition with Musaics of the Bay, Weathervane (Kinesis), was a foray into a different composing process than Souvenirs de Chaises. Souvenirs de Chaises was sort of like painting free-form, adding touches of harmony and dissonances as the eye dictated. With Weathervane (Kinesis), it was much more a procedural base, on which limited shapes were painted overtop. It was inspired by a kinetic wind sculpture of George Rickey, with three components rotating in the wind much like a weathervane. It had a geometric appeal which is imprinted in my piece through the slow alterations of the quickly-moving theme throughout the piece, the three cellos coming in and out of sync as the statue's components rotated from perpendicular to parallel.