Aphasia

Aphasia is a 12-minute-long piece for multi-percussion and electronics, commissioned by Spanish percussionist Miquel Bernat (of the Ictus Ensemble). According to the US Aphasia Association, the word aphasia refers to a medical condition defined as ‘an impairment of language, affecting the production or comprehension of speech and the ability to read or write’. According to the same source, Wernicke’s Aphasia is a particular form of aphasia in which ‘the ability to grasp the meaning of spoken words is chiefly impaired, while the ease of producing connected speech is not much affected.’ This results in a form of communication that is apparently articulate and fluent, but nevertheless lacks a coherent or clear content. It appears as a simulation of communication, rather than a real exchange.

The use of a physiological reference as poetic inspiration was suggested both by the premise of the commission (which included the performer’s interest in incorporating choreographic elements into the piece) and by my personal interest in the subject of organic processes as models for creation. Furthermore, the idea of a rhythmical flow, independent of content - as it appears in the context of ritual music (in this particular case, the Ewe bell rituals from Ghana, a form of ritual music typically associated with dance) seemed appropriate to highlight the non-verbal nature of musical communication, and therefore to focus on the signifier component of speech.