Sanctuary of Sound

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 Evans, Thoronet

With so many incredible church spaces in Toronto, there was only one place I could think of that would really work for this wonderfully meditative and reflective piece, and last Friday I had my chance…

Venturing into this hidden, abandoned site up in Toronto’s Overlea neighbourhood, I figured that the chances of running into some graffiti artists late in the day on a sunny Friday afternoon were slim. Not a soul in sight as it turned out, though as I set up to play I wondered who might be lurking behind these columns. There’s something exhilarating about venturing solo into a place like this, though I wouldn’t have said no to some company - we likely would have had a good laugh together. And besides, the muted rattle and hiss of aerosol cans being shaken and  put to use in the background might’ve sounded kinda cool as I tagged the space with sound. Perhaps on a return visit!

Together with a colleague, I’m currently in the midst of compiling an exciting – yes, exciting* - new RCM Examinations Flute Syllabus, and one of the essential works that we have included is Thoronet for solo flute by Robert Evans (1933-2005). Subtitled Hommage aux cloistres et l’eglise de l’abbaye du Thoronet, the performance instructions suggest seeking out an abbey church or similarly resonant building.

Not quite the original Le Thoronet Abbey as referred to in the title** this underground space off of Laird Avenue offers up some of the livliest acoustics in the city. Here’s a glimpse of the interior that offered inspiration  for the writing of Thoronet:

In describing this remarkable recording adventure to someone, I learned that the area off of Laird Avenue just south of the big box stores that have mushroomed up in the past couple of years, is sometimes called ‘The Golden Mile’. Sounded vaguely familiar. If indeed that is the case, surely this must refer to these glorious, shimmering acoustics, and how the sound goes on for miles? If you listen carefully and think about it for a moment, the sound of my flute criss-crossing the space sustains for close to 10 seconds, bouncing off the painted pillars and graffitied walls, so each note probably travels for at least a mile if not more…

          Evans’ performance directions are revealing:

Composed in St. Maxime, 1971: Thoronet is intended for performance in an abbey church, but any particularly resonant church or other similar building will provide the desired contrapuntal overlay and dovetailing of phrases. The breath marks indicate pauses of varying lengths (to be decided by the performer) to allow time for the accumulating echoes to decay before the next phrase begins, slightly overlapping.

     * Exciting is the word for the new syllabus: just you wait and see! The launch date for August, 2010 at the NFA Flute Convention in Anaheim. This breakaway syllabus will feature all grades, as well as comprehensive compilations of graded studies, repertoire and excerpts. (Evans’ Thoronet is currently listed as a grade 7 list C (solo) piece.)

     ** To record in this actual abbey? I can only wish!! Anyone have some spare Airmiles kicking around that might get me to Paris and environs?

     My heartfelt thanks en avance to The Estate of Robert Evans.