Flussi Correnti

Flussi Correnti began with the idea of creating a fully immersive physical sound environment. The one-night program included a live musical performance with thirteen percussion instruments and a serpentine form of 1,000 floating candles, spread out along the 560 meters (1800 feet) of the open-air Piazza Tevere site. Kristin Jones’ 2005 She-Wolf frieze provided the backdrop to the scenery with the figures illuminated for the occasion.  

The evening’s musical program was performed by renown Roman percussion ensemble Ars Ludi. The performers were positioned along the length of the piazza’s right bank at the water’s edge.  A multi-channel sound system inspired by Stephen Reich was designed by composer David Monacchi specifically for the event, intended to project the music uniformly throughout the entire space. Although dispersed, the musicians were able to play in synchrony by listening simultaneously to the sound in headphones. Walking along the river, the public could enjoy the individual musical parts, while the entire composition could be heard from Ponte Sisto.  

The concert began with Reich’s Electric Counterpoint, which was newly transcribed for the Tiber River in a debut performance for 9 marimbas, 3 vibraphones and a solo midi-vibraphone. The opening work was followed by Reich’s Six Marimbas and Nicola Sani’s Wassererinnerungeren. Monacchi created an original composition with Corrado Fantoni, Thybris Àlbula, specifically for the location, the ensemble, and the sound system.

A serpentine line of flame was floated upon the Tiber’s surface, illuminating the length of the river basin with one thousand fiaccole with the cooperation with Rome’s Fire Department. The Aesculapian form came alive in the river’s current, drawing the path of the moving water with  fire. Burning until dawn, the work was a collaboration between artist Kristin Jones and architect Daniel K. Brown and is the antecedent of Luminessence, a work projected for a future artistic intervention at Piazza Tevere.

The flickering flames, the presence of musicians and the public, together with the silent river, the night sky, reflections, air, traffic sounds, combined to create a visceral experience.