Susie, tell me a Story!
"I woke up blind this morning", so begins the poem that sets every story in motion: the story of Susie, troubadour and collector of narratives. Her voice is the recorder, from the wily sopranino to the sonorous, grave depths of the bass, from the symmetrical renaissance recorder to the modern square model. Impressive technique is her trademark, playing with dazzling effects and sophisticated electronics is second nature to her. But as the blind man says: “don’t start a story without a rope that binds it together”, therefore echoes of flourishing musical seedlings, reverberate with associative poetry to tie Susie's story together. Two ropes are stronger than one.
Susie juggles with seven distinctive musical episodes. Seven headstrong composers wrote one each, always loaded with emphatic drama, and each for a different recorder: the beginning, the call, the success, the nightmare, the happiness, the destruction, the confusion. From these seven story elements, Susie creates a comedy, a tragedy or a quest. She can have the hero tame a monster or make a poor man rich. Or she relates the story of a difficult quest, a happy return, a liberating rebirth. These are the scenarios with a happy ending, but Susie makes her own choices, each time choosing her own path.
Susie, tell me a story! is about seven composers writing a musical story for recorders and electronics. Susanna Borsch, assisted by musical liaison David Dramm, weaves together these seven compositions into an exciting narrative. Call it a theatrical concert. Call it a musical adventure. Call it the most exciting quest for a bundle of recorders ever.
The idea for Susie, tell me a story! is taken from Christopher Booker’s book The seven basic plots.
On the team for this project:
Preparation:
Acquisition, texts, coordination: Peter van Amstel
Publicity: Tia Schutrups
Production:
Sound technician: Micha de Kanter
Producer: David Dramm
Photos:
Photography: Michel Meeuwissen
Photo concept and costume: Giorgio Cardosi
Make-up: Gerda Ziegler
susanna.borsch(at)gmail.com
In 2014 I premiered my project "Susie, tell me a Story!". It is a solo-programme for which I worked together with a great team of composers, sound and light technicians, and lots of other helpful people. Watch here the documentary, including interviews with the composers and me.
David Dramm - beginning
I woke up blind
tekst en stem: David Dramm
Felipe Waller - call
Paramythical Encounter
Invisible Blindness Unseen
Gnostic, Prophetic, Barbaric
Oscar Bettison - initial success
Bird Forms on a Neutral Background
Felipe Waller - call
Paramythical Encounter
The Swinging Chair Premonition
Kate Moore - confusion
House of Shards and Shadows
Michiel Mensingh - nightmare
All Work and No Play makes Mike a Dull Boy
Guus Janssen - happiness
Rocking Chair
Akiko Ushijima - destruction
Instant’stillation
Felipe Waller - call
Paramythical Encounter
Scintillating, then Eerily Melting
Mantric, Archaic, Prosaic
susanna.borsch(at)gmail.com
www.flautando-koeln.de
