Josef Haller: Hypnagogia | for low string trio and percussion (2015)

Hypnagogia is the experience of the transitional state from wakefulness to sleep, with the mind being awake and conscious while the body is asleep. The related words from the Greek are agōgos “leading” and hypnos “sleep”. During this phase visual and auditory hallucinations can occur, like clicking and crackling sounds, whispering of voices, the imagination people being present in the room, ect. It may also lead to sleep paralysis, an unpleasant state in which the body is paralized and unable to move while the mind is conscious, often causing breathlessness and panicking. The piece is inspired by this phenomenon and tries to depict the misterious world of human consciousness while being asleep. Besides the use of low-sounding textures and indistinct noise fluctuations this atmosphere is created by letting all five musicians whisper random verses form a dadaistic poem by Hugo Ball (05:50-06:50).

• instrumentation: viola, cello and double bass, percussion (two players)
• composed in 2015 for the ensemble konstellation by Josef Haller (*1993, Italy)
• recorded 05.05.2015 in ORF Landesstudio Tirol by ensemble konstellation (direction: Ivana Pristasova)