ANRI SALA: To Each His Own in Bridges

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To Each His Own in Bridges, 2015, es un performance en vivo para saxo, trombón y flauta de aprox. 35 min. creado por Anri Sala (Tirana, 1974) para la 12 Bienal de La Habana, en colaboración con André Vida. Como una constante en su trabajo, Sala observa el desvanecimiento de las utopías a través de una forma personal de poner en contacto la música, el tiempo y la memoria. Desde una perspectiva musical arqueológica, el hilo conductor de To Each His Own in Bridges son las 100 notas que componen la legendaria melodía de la Guantanamera. Para ello Sala creó una nueva partitura añadiendo a cada una de las 100 mencionadas notas un bridge* o puente musical tomado de canciones de diferentes países, ritmos y épocas. Siguiendo el esquema interpretativo nota/puente – puente/nota, saxo, trombón y flauta se van turnando aleatoriamente entre sí para crear una pieza cuya sonoridad difiere del ideal romántico y melancólico de la Guantanamera. Así pues, To Each His Own in Bridges puede verse también como una lectura simbólica de esa nueva “partitura social” cubana que se acerca, debatiéndose entre las disonancias de un presente marcado por el fin de la utopía y el comienzo de un pragmatismo social cada vez más amalgamado y difuso.

©Juan Carlos Betancourt                                                                                                                         
Curador asociado

*Bridge o puente es una transición musical empleada para romper la monotonía de un tema preparando al oyente para el clímax. Es por naturaleza un recurso de distanciamiento que en To Each His Own in Bridges se invierte provocando un efecto contrario.

To Each His Own In Bridges, 2015, is a live performance for saxophone, trombone and flute, lasting about 35 minutes, created by Anri Sala (Tirana, 1974) for the 12th Havana Biennale in collaboration with André Vida. As always in his work, Sala observes the vanishing of utopias through a personal way of bringing together music, time and memory. Seen from the perspective of musical archeology, the thread running through To Each His Own In Bridges is provided by the 100 notes that make up the legendary melody of the Guantanamera. Sala has created a new score, adding to each of these notes a musical bridge* taken from songs from different countries, rhythms and eras. Following the performance structure note/bridge - bridge/note, sax, trombone and flute take turns at random so as to create a piece that sounds very different from the romantic, melancholy ideal of Guantanamera. To Each His Own In Bridges can thus also be seen as a symbolic reading of the new Cuban "social score" to come, teetering between the dissonances of a present scarred by the end of utopia and the beginning of a social pragmatism that is ever more cobbled together and diffuse.

©Juan Carlos Betancourt        

Associate Curator

*A bridge is a musical transition used to break the monotony of a theme, preparing the listener for the climax. It is by nature a distancing mechanism, which in To Each His Own In Bridges is inverted to produce the opposite effect.