White City (2008)
White City, written for the violinist Ana Milosavljevic, is dedicated to the city of Belgrade (Bel means white, grad means city). The backbone of the piece is an uninterrupted, 12 minute live documentary recording of Terazije, Belgrade downtown, taken from the balcony of my apartment one late night in the summer of 2007. The form of the piece follows a non-directional, random flow of street sounds including traffic, speech, clapping, bells. Noise from the street blends with Ana Milosavljevic’s pre-recorded violin sounds exploring extended technique. The soundscape transforms with the entrance of live violin part bringing Serbian traditional chanting and prayer into the “sound of the city”. Video recording, unfolding simultaneously in two different ways, preserves a natural, intuitive rhythm of the “eye of an observer”. Video for the piece is created by Katarina Miljkovic and Milan Popovic.
Katarina Miljkovic, music, video
Milan Popovic, video editing
Ana Milosavljevic, violin