2008 / Parafernalia

various locations at home and abroad

A solo performance by Hendrik Vanden Abeele with some recorded contributions from the complete Psallentes ensemble, focussed on the development of an original story of Gregorian chant with the use of electronic means.

Parafernalia is a production wherein the Gregorian chant and also the singers of the chant make use of all sorts of props - appropriate to Gregorian chant and otherwise. The historical fact that particular chants were translated into chimes leads, for instance, to an evocation of this, using live electronics. The same computerised control of the voice produces an ‘improvisation’ on the supposed acoustic richness that is appropriate to a performance of Gregorian chant, or generates in Memorabilia skilfully improvised preprogrammed polyphony. The possible rhythmic notation in various manuscripts, such as Ms 15 in the Ghent University Library, can also be adapted to the addition of instruments. Furthermore, collaboration with other artistic forms is an obvious step, leading to a contemporary, multidisciplinary evocation of the ritual of the senses within which Gregorian chant was embedded.