During this two day session three new „permanences“ or illuminations have been achieved, making a total of nine if we add those made in the first session. Although it is too early to say that the nine illuminations are good enough to be definitive, an effort has been made to ensure that each has specific sonic qualities so that they can be differentiated from one another.
For instance, while in the first session the dominant sound waves were sinusoidal, the work done during this second session was based mainly on triangular and saw waves. These two sound waves are made up of the sum of many frequencies, allowing the space to emphasise some more than others due to the resonances that the space itself creates. In this way it is possible to achieve one of the objectives of this project, that is, to create sonorities specific to this particular space.
The involvement of the acoustic space is also evident when using sound bursts of different frequencies and durations. These impulses make it possible to perceive the reverberation of the room, as well as the duration and quality of its decay. In one of the illuminations, the impulses appear randomly one after the other at different intervals, creating a sound effect similar to drops of water falling into a pond and the reverberation that follows the ripples they generate in the water. To fill the silences between the impulses, very faint continuous sounds have been added, creating a water-like surface where the sound impulses fall. It was a surprise to discover the behaviour of the reverberation created by these impulses, as when interacting with these continuous background sounds, a small deformation of the intonation appeared, similar to a small glissando.
During these two sessions, I have spent many hours inside the ossuary and I can assure that the interest in this space has not decreased but rather has been increasing. Contemplating the painted vault for hours and coexisting with its images is being an unforgettable experience for its artistic beauty and for its intense mystical and spiritual content. In this context, the sound illuminations I propose could also be called „permanences“, as they consist of sound situations that, although they remain the same, are always different. These sonorous pemanences seem to give expression to the timeless character of the figures, as well as to the weightless light that fills the space, all of which invite us to contemplate a space where time seems to have stopped.
Similar to the contemplation of the frescoes, which gains in contrasts and nuances after some time of observation, it seems that the ear gradually opens to be more sensitive to small variations that were not perceptible at the beginning. In this permanences the changes are very subtle and occur not only because the sound is constantly moving in the sapce, but also because of the always dynamic conditions with which the space receives and reflects these dynamic sounds.
Therefore each of these sound illuminations should „remain“ for a long time. Bearing in mind one of the comments that Mr. T. Hammerl, director of the Freilandmuseum Oberpfalz, wrote to me a few weeks ago about medieval art, I realize that it takes time to become aware of the polyphonic richness that this space offers us. Time is needed to integrate in a single sensation all the pictorial, luminous, architectural and sonic elements that this liturgical space offers.
Next session:
to third session: october 24 and 25
back to walls of sound
joan riera robusté composer 
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