Lawrence English

Approaching Nothing…

In the late 1960s, French composer Luc Ferrari and his wonderful partner in crime Brunhild Ferrari visited Vela Luka on the island of Korcula. It was a fruitful summer and from this time the legendary composition ‘Presque Rien’ was born.

In 2012, my dear friends Petar Milat, Leila Topic and I were discussing this piece. Petar, whose family hails from the island, suggested a commission for me to visit Vela Luka and make a ‘response’ of sorts to Mr. Ferrari’s work. Arriving in early autumn 2013, I decided to approach the ‘nothingness’ of Luc’s ideas and capture Vela Luka on the brink of the next season almost 50 years after his recordings were made.

I found the last cicada begging for sun and discovered the wonderful and unique accents of the local people. I heard those same motor boats pushing out to sea carrying local fishermen to their daily rituals in the sea. It was one of the most enjoyable recording trips I have had experience in a great many years. It also was the first chance I had to deeply explore my theoretical framework of relational listening, which is the foundation of the method by which these recordings was made.

Upon listening my Approaching Nothing composition, Brunhild Ferrari kindly wrote me a note “I was deeply touched when I listened to the piece, it had such atmosphere. Their were sounds I could recognize and I could essentially smell that special place once again. My memory was consumed with everything about Vela Luka.” It was a beautiful reminder to me of the power of sound and how it resonates across time.

It’s with great pleasure I announce the release of this piece on the fine French imprint Baskaru. My thanks to Traianos Pakioufakis for his amazing design and to Eric at the label for all his support and energies. Special thanks toPetar Milat, Leila Topic and Brunhild Ferrari without whom the piece would not have come to pass.