Wanderlust #60: for scarpa’s fountains

for scarpa’s fountains by pablo diserens

for scarpa’s fountains is an ode to Carlo Scarpa’s carefully organized matter and instinctive approach to raw elements and their coexistence with water. In resonance with the architect’s work, Diserens blends field recordings gathered in the Venetian city and Scarpa’s spaces — such as sounds of fountains from the Fondazione Querini Stampalia and the Giardino delle sculture — with drone and rhythmical improvisations on cymbals and glass. This 25-minute long piece is divided into three distinct parts, each investigating various structures, materials, and memories. The two firsts segments are direct tributes to the architect in which Diserens uses copper and glass as compositional tools to create imaginary spaces that translate the subtleties of Scarpa’s forms through circular drones and transients ballets. As one wanders through these sonic rooms, or perhaps gardens, one also hears the long chants of cicadas and faint murmurs of passing visitors guided by the fountains’ drizzles. In the last section, listeners emerge from these architectonic apparitions with a surreal soundscape of Venice at dawn. Seagulls cry in unison from a sleeping city’s roofs, while a lonely figure drags a suitcase on the stone pavement unveiling the street’s relief and narrowness. The piece comes to an end as it dives back into Scarpa’s dripping waters. for scarpa’s fountains celebrates the juxtaposition of various (sonic) materials that produce triggering patterns of (acoustic) memory.

You can purchase for scarpa’s fountains here