In LA (2003) is an electroacoustic music composition by Rozalie Hirs, based on her eponymous poem.
In LA (2003, Dutch version) was composed as a portrait of the composer Louis Andriessen and is dedicated to him. The text is based on an interview with Andriessen that Hirs conducted in 2003 inquiring after his first memories. A version of the work in English was devised by Hirs in 2010 for her CD Pulsars.
In LA (2003, 2010) is inspired by the psychoacoustic ‘cocktail party effect’, which was taken as a metaphor for the act of remembering, for ‘hearing’ a particular stream of memories within a cacophony of competing memories during its emergence into consciousness.
In LA serves the second track on the portrait CD ‘Pulsars’ (Amsterdam: Attacca Productions, 2010) of Rozalie Hirs, featuring her electroacoustic compositions, based on her own poetry.
Rozalie Hirs composed and wrote the work In LA (2003) at the kind request of the Dutch designer duo Jan Erik Fokke and Yvonne Wubbolts (aka FokkeWubbolts) for the book aandacht – nu voor later. The book contains portraits by several artists of dear subjects or sources of inspiration. Rozalie Hirs made the portrait of Louis Andriessen, with whom she studied at the Royal Conservatoire, The Hague, in the nineties.
The poem In LA (2003) was published in the anthology aandacht – nu voor later (2003), and in Rozalie Hirs’ third collection of poetry Speling (Uitgeverij Querido, 2005). The mini CD (EP) of the musical work in Dutch, as performed by the composer-poet, was included at the backside of the inner cover of the anthology. In addition, FokkeWubbolts also designed a standalone sleeve for the mini CD (see pictures above and below).
In 2010 Hirs invited the percussionist Arnold Marinissen to perform the work in English and record it for the CD Pulsars. The sound engineer of this recording is Guido Tichelman.
