Episode 26: Susurrus

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This episode was co-curated by Press Play host Joyce To.

Episode 26: Susurrus

Jun 23, 2022

Susurrus (2015)

Connor D’Netto (AU), composer

Aysel Taghi-Zada, violin

Joyce To and Dennis Patterson, electronics

Programme Notes:

susurrus  /ˈsuː.sə.ɹəs/

(n.) a low soft sound, as of whispering, muttering or a quiet wind; a whisper or a rustling

An example of onomatopoeia, its English use was taken pre-nineteenth century from the Latin susurrus “a humming, whispering”. It is used to describe a low, indistinct, and often continuous sound.

1. The soft susurrus and sighs of the branches. The endless susurrus of a distant river.

[from the reduplication of imitative Proto-Indo-European *swer- “to buzz, hum”]

Susurrus is an exploration into ephemera, and the vast timbral possibilities of an instrument as versatile as the violin. Opening with a simple set of alternating harmonics, a vast yet sparse texture opens up, buzzing and shimmering before giving way to fragments of lush lyricism and dazzling, energetic acrobatics, only to collapse back into the texture of the opening. – Connor D’Netto