Divining for Lost Sound

the great silence
Sound-score for St. Norbert Arts and Cultural Centre, © 1997
by Peter Courtemanche and Lori Weidenhammer

The sound score for the piece consists of three interwoven histories: the daily routine of the monks, the history of the monastery at St. Norbert, and the beginnings of the Trappist movement in Canada. The title of the piece, the great silence, refers to the waking hours in the monastery, a time of communion and prayer.

The daily routine of the monks involves eight choral offices. Some monasteries practice additional "little offices", silent prayers, and readings. Interwoven with the choirs are the chores of daily life: making beds, breakfast, dish washing; and several hours of manual labour: farming, building, making cheese and other products.

The sound score is based on the notion of living in silence. The daily lives and history of the monks is explored in terms of the sounds of their existence - sounds without conversation or other forms of "non essential" personal communication. Early in the morning, we hear the monks rise and move through the monastery on their way to choir. In the score, the choirs are explored through a re-creation of authentic chants and prayers, devices of electronic music, and the connection between song and spiritualism. The daily routine is blended with the sounds of larger moments in history - catastrophes (fire, flooding, storms), changes to the rule of silence in 1967, and the relocation of Notre Dame des Prairies in 1978.

Divining for Lost Sound

EXHIBTIONS

Ceperley House, Burnaby, 1999

Kunst in Der Stadt 2, Bregenz,
Austria, 1998

SNAC, St. Norbert Manitoba, 1997
St. Norbert Installation