Solus Rex

2004 August Andere Podia 2004, Theater transparant, Antwerp

Solus Rex is a monologue performed and directed by Remko Van Damme. The piece is conceived as a dialoge between image, music and text. It is based on biographic material of Alexander Aljechin.
As a basis for the opening music for the piece the last chess game played by this legendary chess player is used.
The coordinates of the moves in this historic game are mapped to frequencies for sinewaves.
The sinewaves glide from one frequency to the next, creating a 2-voice polyphonic Theremin-esque invention. Later in the piece, the same material is transcribed to electric guitar parts. scattered over unpredictable timedivisions in hybrid electronic-instrumental passages. Following the increasingly confused mind of the protagonist, the music desintegrates as the piece evolves.