The Mirrors of Uqbar

“The Mirrors of Uqbar” is a piece based on the metaphor of mirrors found in the short story “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius” by Jorge Luis Borges. In this story, Uqbar was a fictional society where mirrors were feared in an allegory to hyperrealism, aka. a simulation that takes over reality. In the piece “The Mirrors of Uqbar”, the electronics reflect and modify the melodic acoustic materials creating a progressively independent world.

This recording was made on the 1st of March 2020 at the Old Cabell Hall, UVA of the University of Virginia, with support from the Virginia Center for Computer Music at the McIntire Dept of Music.

Music composed by Juan Carlos Vasquez using Ableton Live and Max 8

Viola da Gamba performed by Kivie Cahn-Lipman (Science Ficta ensemble)

Recording Engineer: Travis Thatcher

Camera: Heather Mease

Mixing, Mastering, and Video Editing: Juan Carlos Vasquez

Special thanks also to Becky Brown