- Skra (2013)
-
Linda Dusman
for B-flat clarinet and fixed electronic media
ca. 10'00"
I found the inspiration for Skra in the artist Mary McDonnell’s Red Line Drawings (marymcdonnellart.com). The meditative quality of these works, seemingly simple “parallel” lines, upon contemplation feel as though one may be seeing their intimacy from a great distance. I also love the beauty of their “primitiveness,” a sense of a work of art in the act of becoming itself. Creating the composition followed a similar conceptual process, as I used recordings of Mary making the drawings and the ambient sounds in her studio to accompany somewhat “primitive” sound on the clarinet—keys clicking, air passing through the instrument colored in various ways—creating the sense of a sonic landscape becoming itself. There is one basic gesture in the piece, moving from hearing pen scratches from inside the paper (from recordings made using contact mics) gradually to the external environment in and outside of the artist’s studio. I am grateful to Alan Wonneberger for technical assistance in making this piece, and to E. Michael Richards for his imaginative work on extended techniques for the clarinet, another important inspiration for the work.
The piece was recorded by E. Michael Richards, and can be heard when viewing the score.
- Night Lantern (2014)
-
Sofia Kamayianni
for piano and CD
The "dreamy textured" tape (electronic process by the composer) builds on improvisations by the great soloist Manos Avarakis, playing harmonicas, recorders and the exotic kalimba, all recorded over a period of time specially to be used in creating this piece
Click here to listen to the piece (YouTube).
- I Have Done With Phrases (2010)
-
Sofia Kamayianni
for soprano, bass, portative, hand gong, and electronics
Dedicated to Tobias Schlierf and Effie Minakoulis
- Jitterbug (2007)
-
Annea Lockwood
for two amplified performers and six sound channels
Jitterbug, for two musicians and six channels of prerecorded sound, was commissioned by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company in 2006 for the dance eyeSpace. In Jitterbug, the musicians are interpreting photographs of rocks taken for this project by Gwen Deely, as graphic scores; these are intricate in their patterns and color shifts and I found them in a creek bed, up in the Montana Rockies. A pre-recorded surround-sound score draws on insect sounds: aquatic insects which I recorded in the small lakes and backwaters of the Flathead Valley, Montana; and ‘air’ insects generously made available to me by Lang Elliott, of the NatureSound Studio. A curious aspect of the underwater recordings was that these strong sound signals were being created by beetles and other microscopic insects which were always invisible to me, although the water was clear and often shallow. Deep tones from bowed gongs and a piano infiltrate this insect world, providing a strong contrast.
Gustavo Aguilar, William Winant and Joseph Kubera, with audio engineers Maggi Payne and Marilyn Ries generously recorded these sounds for the project.
Click here to listen on Annea Lockwood's website.
- Ear-Walking Woman (1996)
-
Annea Lockwood
for prepared piano and amplification
Ear-Walking Woman for prepared piano and exploring pianist, uses the classic piano preparations: coins (to detune the strings), screws, wiring insulation sheathing, plus bubble wrap, a rubber ball and small wooden balls, two round stones, a bowl gong, mallets and a water glass. The piece was commissioned by Lois Svard, to whom it is dedicated and who has given many superb performances of it.
When I started experimenting with these objects on my own piano, I found that even slight changes in the method of producing a sound evoked striking variants in sonic detail, for example: rocking a stone gently between two sets of strings brings out several pitches and their overtones, iterating in unpredictable rhythms. Getting the stone to rock really hard adds higher pitches and at times the stone will turn over, setting off a new set of strings and pitches, which gradually fade away as the stone comes to rest.
The work is set up as an open-ended exploration, in which I have determined which ‘tools’ are to be used in each section, and the pianist is asked to listen closely to the sounds created by each action, and to explore further the variants which arise when s/he uses a little more pressure and change of speed, a slightly different wrist position, a different make of piano. I think of this experience as “ear-walking”, like a hiker exploring a landscape.
- The Talisman (1989)
-
Ruth Lomon
for two clarinets, violin, viola, and live electronics
ca. 12'00"
Scored for two clarinets, violin, viola, 'cello and synthesizer, The Talisman was commissioned by Boston based Dinosaur Annex in 1989 with the proviso that one component should be live electronics. The seven sounds created with computer and Opcode Librarian and played from the synthesizer have a symbiotic relationship with the live instruments. The electronic sounds I wanted to use dictated the way I wrote for the live instrument and conversely, the qualities I wanted from the instruments lead my search for a balanced electronic counterpart. The Talisman was written for my daughter who was nursing a terminally ill child. You will hear inflections of 'hush little baby...' in the rocking motion of the strings and in the viola which plays a full quote at the end of the piece.
The performers in this recording are currently unknown.
- Taming the Beast (1985)
-
Anna Rubin
for solo percussion and fixed media
Taming the Beast (1985) is a work for solo percussionist and fixed media. The percussionist is surrounded by a battery of metallic instruments ranging from the triangle to large gongs and tam-tams. In the course of the piece, the percussionist emerges from this ‘cage’ and ends playing the magical ‘stroke rods,’ long aluminum rods which are stroked to produce high ringing tones. The work in is in 3 large sections the first of which features Buddhist chant in the fixed media portion which has been modified and altered electronically. Metallic sounds dominate the middle section while a wide-spectrum synthesized rainbow of sound dominates the ending. The soloist has semi-improvisational sections throughout the work along with strickly somposed sections. The piece has been featured in concerts in the U.S., the Netherlands and Belgium with performers including Jim Pugliese, Jeff Kershner, Paul Koek and Max Van Der Beek.
- Stolen Gold (1991/rev.2007)
-
Anna Rubin
versions for violin, modern oboe, baroque oboe and fixed media
ca. 5'30"
Stolen Gold (1991/rev. 2007) is a work in three versions featuring fixed media along with amplified baroque oboe, modern oboe and violin. In each case, the live instrumental was refashioned to suit the performer and the instrument. The original version for baroque oboe was done in collaboration with Deborah Nagy. Her virtuosity with the keyless instrument allowed me to compose long glissandi which are extremely difficult on the modern keyed instrument. Modern oboist Patricia Moorhead asked for a version for modern oboe and violinist Airi Yoshioka later asked for a version for violin. In all cases, the live instrument is amplified. The fixed media was composed while I was in residence at the Brooklyn College Center for Computer Music using the CSound synthesis program. Clouds of pointillistic sound contrast with drone and glissandi, acting as a counterpart to a highly decorated melodic part in the solo instrument. The piece has been performed throughout the US by a variety of performers.
The version for violin has been recorded by Airi Yoshioka on the Albany label (Troy 1305). Click here to view the recording. (YouTube)
- Iridium Gone Gold (2015)
-
Patricia Ann Repar
for soprano, alto, tenor, baritone saxophones and digital accompaniment
1 iridium flare: a surge of light
marking the revolution in satellite telecommunication
(wire shattered and adrenals gone mad)
launching us forward to do it faster, spread it further, say it louder, push it harder,
leaving us dark in the night and cold on the ground
like the hard, dense, silvery-white metallic sheen of iridium.
2 iridium flare: a surge of light
marking the call to remember
(even if in the midst of desolation)
the overwhelming vulnerability of clouds reconfiguring, kisses colliding,
and human hearts floundering in the space between life and death
like the deep lustrous yellow of iridium gone gold.
Thanks to Willie Johnson for ‘Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground’, one of the 27 samples of music included on the Voyager Golden Record launched into space in 1977.
Click here to view the performance notes.
Click here to view a performance (YouTube).
- Hexa (1988)
-
Lois V Vierk and Anita Feldman
for 3 tap dancers on Tap Dance Instrument (patented), 1 percussionist, and live electronics
HEXA exists in two versions: the original 1988 dance concert version, and a slightly shorter version which was used in a video produced by Jan Roberts-Breslin in 1990 and subsequently released on CD (audio track only) by Innova Records in 2010 (Innova 233 "25 Years of New York New Music: The NYFA Collection"). The audio recording of this slightly shorter version is notable because tap dance, percussion and electronic processing were recorded and mixed in a sound studio. The sound quality of the CD is excellent unlike, of course, that of video recordings made in concert. Hexa is a tap dance/music work and also stands alone as a music piece.
The original dance concert version has 316 measures and the CD version has 260 measures. Small cuts were made in the original version throughout the piece, to produce the CD version. Scores of both versions are included here. The CD version appears first and the original dance concert version follows.
Hexa is one of six music/tap dance works co-created by tap dance choreographer Anita Feldman and composer Lois V Vierk during the 1980s and 90s. This piece was the inaugural work for Feldman's Tap Dance Instrument (patented). It had long been Feldman's belief that music made by the feet was equal to music made by musical instruments. Desiring to dance on an instrument that would allow the dancers' feet to make resonant and varied music in any performance situation, she joined forces with San Francisco instrument builder Daniel Schmidt to design the modular and portable Tap Dance Instrument, which was then constructed by Schmidt in 1987. The Tap Dance Instrument consists of six platforms, each about 9 inches off the ground. They can be arranged in any desired configuration. Three of the modules are hexagons of approximately 5 feet across, made of different woods and constructed in varying ways, so that they have individual resonances and timbres. A fourth platform is the "Tap Marimba" with 7 pitched keys. These large wooden keys can be replaced with alternates, so a number of tunings are possible. The remaining two platforms are smaller and are topped with thick brass slabs. They ring like bells, one higher pitched and the other lower.
Hexa was named for all the sixes in the piece (hexagonal floor shapes, six feet on the Tap Dance Instrument, six percussion instruments played by the musician) and for the magical connotations of "hex" and "hex signs".
Opening the work, tap dancers' feet play a tune on the tap marimba, accompanied by the percussionist's muted cymbals. Dancers' arms, legs and bodies create visual designs as the tune moves the three performers back and forth across the tap marimba. Gradually the dancers move to non-pitched wood platforms and then to the brass floor modules.
Audio CD recording is by:
Anita Feldman, David Parker, Rhonda Price dancing on Tap Dance Instrument (patented)
Percussionist Gary Schall
Live electronics with Lexicon PCM 42 by Lois V Vierk
from CD Innova 233 "25 Years of New York New Music: The NYFA Collection"
Click here to view the CD on Innova.
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Video recorded live in concert (a good look at the choreography but sound quality is mediocre)
Tap dance performed by Anita Feldman, Tim Grandia, Rhonda Price
Kerry Meads, percussionist
Live electronics by Lois V Vierk
Video recorded live in concert June 20, 1998, at The Kitchen (NYC)
Click here to view the video recording.