During these two days three new „illuminations“ were composed and one of those composed in the previous session was revised and improved. If we add up all the illuminations that I have composed during these three sessions, the total number is twelve, a number that coincides with the twelve apostles represented in the frescoes. As I will try to expalin as follows, the relationship between the number of illuminations and apostles could be used to give content and shape to this project.
After spending so many hours in the osuary contemplating these magnificent frescoes, I have been able to appreciate some details that have caught my attention. For example, the fact that the apostles have their eyes closed, unlike Jesus who has them open. This fact has triggered in me a series of reflections, of course very personal, which I will try to expose below, as they serve to justify in some way what this project aims to contribute to the already splendid experience that is the contemplation of these paintings.
The open eyes of Jesus represent for me the act of giving, while the closed eyes of the apostles symbolise the act of receiving. Through the open eyes of Jesus, which stand out for their firm and penetrating gaze, you receive God’s grace. The closed eyes of the apostles, on the other hand, invite you to listen, which is in itself an act of receiving. Closing one’s eyes is customary when one wants to listen to something better and more intensely. This is for me the most significant and unique feature of these frescoes, as I do not think I have seen it in any other example of Romanesque art.
This relationship of giving and receiving becomes even more evident, or at least this is my experience, with the sound interventions I propose. Indeed, observing the apostols while listening myself to the sound of the iluminations triggers a cinestetetic relationship, as the apostles and oneself seem to be immersed in the same introspective action, thus sharing the same mystical experience.
The twelve illuminations correspond to the twelve apostles, while none is dedicated to Jesus. This is because I imagine Jesus as the space itself, where the union between the earthly and the divine take place. This allegory seems to be plausible when experiencing the diffuse sound fields, which appear when the projected sounds and the millions of sounds produced by the space come together. From this union arises this very uncommon acosutic experience that are the diffuse sound fields, in which the temporal and spatial limits of sound seem to disappear, accentuating the experience of plenitude and grace that the sanctuary and its frescoes try to transmit.
Next session: Temperature permitting, the next session will take place on November 7 and 8, 2023.
to fourth session: november 7 and 8
back to walls of sound
joan riera robusté composer 
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