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| Canciones de amor y la noche is scored for voice, electronics, and twelve players. The ensemble is divided into three quartets. The first quartet is a wind quartet; the second quartet includes guitar, two percussionists, and synthesizer; and the third quartet is composed of trumpet and string trio. The whole work is ordered as a series of alternating instrumental episodes and songs: I–crepúsculo (2nd quartet), II–Noche (full ensemble), III–noche oscuro (1st quartet), IV–Cruz (full ensemble), V–noche transluciente (3rd quartet), VI–Madrugada (full ensemble), VII–epílogo (solo voice and electronics). The texts for the three songs (movements II, IV, and VI) are taken from Federico García Lorca’s Poema del Cante Jondo.
The Cante Jondo is a style of singing of the Andalusian Gypsies, and predates Flamenco. Micro-tonal inflections, portamento, ornate embellishments, and a modal palette sung with characteristically free rhythms contribute to a distinctive vocal style that is profoundly expressive. The melodic writing in Canciones is inspired by this style of singing.
Canciones employs three distinct types of pitch structures and explores various possible relationships between them. The three categories of pitch structures are: 1) harmonies based on the overtone series over a given fundamental; 2) chords derived from frequency modulation (FM) synthesis generated spectra, where the carrier frequencies and modulating frequencies are pitches of structural significance in the vocal line; and 3) scales of fixed or limited transposition which are derived from interval patterns of the vocal melody. These pitch structures are treated as harmonic fields, which constitute a musical topography navigated by the melodic material of the ensemble. The instrumental melodies tend to echo or presage melodic figurations in the vocal line; they are, however, often distorted, elaborated, or condensed versions of their vocal counterparts.
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Credits: Rajna Klaser, voice |
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| Fracture, a piece for tenor saxophone and four-channel signal processing, was composed for my friend and colleague, Michael F. Zbyszynski during the Fall of 1995. Thesignal processor used in this work is the ensoniq DP/4, controlled by a Macintosh computer running MAX software. I programmed MAX to change presets on the DP/4, tocross-fade between presets, and to control various parameters of the signal processing and the midi mixer in real time. At several points in the piece the four-channelspatialization of the sound is controlled by a Lorenz attractor. The performer uses a midi-foot switch to trigger the events stored in the computer. Most of the musicalmaterial of FRACTURE is derived from the opening measure; my intention was to fragment and elaborate the opening gesture over the course of the work in a way that isinteractive with the electronics. The signal processing is carefully prepared to respond dynamically to the performer's playing. However, I was not interested in merelycomposing a piece for saxophone and electronic accompaniment; rather, I hoped to effectively allow the electronics to influence the musical material of the saxophone itself.For example, nearly two-thirds of the way into the piece, the saxophone line dissolves into noise and an exploration of harmonics; also, at various points throughout the piecethe opening motif fragments and is offset by fractions of the beat in play with digital delays spatialized across all four channels. In this manner I hope to have more fullyintegrated the saxophone and its electronic complement into a more unified whole--a meta-instrument. | |
Credits: Gary Scavone, saxophone |
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| Stretch is a study in time stretching, granular synthesis, and large-scale form. It uses several very short samples of gongs, cymbals, tampura, shakuhachi, etc. and stretches them as much as 164 times their original duration. This creates an extraordinarily rich and dense texture of sound, revealing the vast sonic world contained within sounds that normally pass to quickly to be heard in such detail. The composition unfolds in several waves, creating a large-scale arch form. Stretch is best heard in an acousmatic theater where the listener can be immersed in the sonic environment. | |
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