Hind Rajab was a six-year-old girl from Gaza, killed on January 29th 2024 by the Israli military after being the sole survivor of Israli tank fire on the vehicle in which she had fled with her aunt, uncle, and four cousins.

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society was able to reach Hind on the phone and send an ambulance to the site of the incident, but both paramedics were also killed.
The dispatcher Rana al-Faqeh spent about three hours on the phone with Hind before the connection was lost.

"Echo Chamber" is based on an one-minute excerpt from the phone call between Hind and Rana al-Faqeh. During this minute, the dispatcher recited the opening surah of the Quran together with Hind.

The pitches are the result of spectral analysis of the phone call recording.
The time structure of this phone call excerpt was projected onto the time structure of the piece. However, the musicians play without fixed durations.

Each sound lasts as long as it takes for the performer to silently read an excerpt from a different part of the phone call. This piece cannot have a click track or a conductor.
"Echo Chamber" is a slowed-down playback of the original recording, performed by the ensemble.
The presence of the musicians on stage, creating time — trying to make audible what has been silenced.


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Ensemble New Babylon

Isabelle Raphaelis – Flute
Benjamin Fischer – Oboe
Nayoung Cheong – Clarinet
Samuel Stoll – Horn
Johannes von Buttlar – Percussion, Audio
Mireia Vendrell del Álamo – Piano, Audio
Marijke Tjoelker – Violin
Hannah Craib – Viola
Lynda Anne Cortis – Violoncello

Anton Vasilyev – Composition, Audio, Production

June 23, 2024
Universität Oldenburg

Commissioned by Ensemble New Babylon.