Before Sound: Re-Composing Material, Time, and Bodies in Music

In Before Sound, composer Tiziano Manca investigates the premises for and consequences of a major change in his compositional practice: this change emphasizes the temporality of sound and, more recently, the relationship between sounding body and musician. It calls into question the traditional conception of composition and its relation to sound material. Accordingly, Manca examines the theoretical and aesthetic reasons for this shift by interweaving aesthetic reflection on his work with historical research on the notion of musical material and the theory of sound production.

Tiziano Manca, born in 1970, is a composer of vocal and instrumental music, including works for solo, ensemble, orchestra, and music theater. His music is performed at music festivals and concert halls worldwide by renowned contemporary music ensembles. Initially engaged in exploring the limits of acoustic instruments and human voice, he has lately turned his attention to the temporal and rhythmic dimension of music in relation to the musical instrument and the performer's gesture. Alongside his activity as a composer, Tiziano Manca works as a research artist at the Orpheus Institute in Ghent.