Synchro (Cicada) came about after reading about the incredible emergence of Brood X, the latest Cicada brood to emerge in the spring of 2021. This rare event, occurring every 17 years, is rivalled in its visual impact only by the cacophonic song produced by the rapid buckling and unbuckling of drum-like tymbals in the Cicadas’ abdomen.

Aside from the incredible sounds produced by the insects, the precise synchronicity achieved between billions of individuals, measurable down to the day, interested me greatly, and is a factor I attempted to explore in Synchro (Cicada). Synchronization between extremely fast-moving parallel drum-machine beats to create a cohesive structure at both the micro and macro level was an attempted goal throughout the piece.

Micropolyphony was also employed as a means of applying line and gesture to repeating ostinato figures and textural material, in order to shape a larger sense of form throughout the piece.

Synchro (Cicada) for Jaw Harp, Shaker, and Analogue Drum Machine

Composer: Alex Eddington
Poetry: Robert Macfarlane (used with permission)
Performance: Elektra Women's Choir - 2022
Director: Morna Edmundson
Publisher: Cypress Choral Music
visit https://cypresschoral.com to study the music and poetry while you listen

Magpie - by Alex Eddington  - #13 from "The Lost Words"

Acorn - by Alex Eddington - #4 from "The Lost Words"

Performed and premiered by Continuum Contemporary Music. Commissioned through the generous support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

By Other Means
Sunday, May 4, 2014, 8 pm
The Music Gallery, Toronto

Anne Thompson, flutes
Max Christie, clarinets
Carol Lynn Fujino, violin
Paul Widner, cello
Gregory Oh, piano
Ryan Scott, percussion
Brian Current, conductor

Au fond du cloître humide (2014)

Catharsis - Suite in 4 movements for solo classical guitar, composed by Raphael Weinroth-Browne

I. Ire 0:00
II. Confusion 4:47
III. Reverie 7:48
IV. Absolution 13:22

Daniel Ramjattan, classical guitar 

http://www.danielramjattan.com
https://www.youtube.com/user/danielramjattan

Audio recorded in December 2014 by Leon Taheny at Union Sound in Toronto, Canada. 

http://leontaheny.com

Audio editing and mixing by Alex Gamble at Union Sound.

http://www.audiogamble.com

Catharsis (for solo classical guitar) performed by Daniel Ramjattan

Note de programme:
Wanmansho est le plus grand ambassadeur du théâtre chanté de sa culture. Vous jouissez ce soir du privilège d'observer sa célébration de rites préparatoires, ainsi que sa remarquable interprétation du mythe de Shreu et Djonr.
-	Échauffements
-	Rites préparatoires
-	Mythe de Shreu et Djonr
    o	Contemplation de Shreu
    o	Interférence de Djonr
    o	Combat
    o	Sortilège de Shreu
    o	Agonie et mort de Djonr 
-	Bénédiction finale

Program note:
Wanmansho is the greatest ambassador of his culture's form of sung theatre. Tonight, you are privileged to observe his celebration of preparatory rites, as well as his remarkable rendering of the Shreu and Djonr myth.

-	Warm-up
-	Preparatory rites
-	The myth of Shreu and Djonr
    o	Shreu’s Contemplation 
    o	Djonr’s Interference 
    o	Combat
    o	Shreu’s Spell 
    o	Djonr’s Agony and Death
-	Final Blessing

Vincent Ranallo (baryton)
ECM+ (Ensemble contemporain de Montréal)
Dirigé par Véronique Lacroix

Recorded May 22nd, 2015, Koerner Hall, Toronto

Wanmansho

"Three Conjoined Trifles" for bassoon and piano (2008)
Commissioned and premiered by Catherine Carignan

Performed by Rebecca Norman, contrabassoon

2010, University of Toronto Walter Hall

Three Conjoined Trifles - contrabassoon and piano (2008)

After the period of isolation, high on the chilly, sparsely populated coast of Northern California outside the tiny town of Gualala, Partch moved south to Mills College (Oakland) in 1951 for a successful few years that saw premieres of both his first opera "King Oedipus" and the "Plectra & Percussion Dances." By 1953, he had moved a bit further north and installed his instruments in a 200-foot-long shed at the section of abandoned shipyards in Sausalito known as GATE 5, a title that would soon name his record label. 
Nearby, one of GATE 4’s residents was the percussionist/drum-maker/recording engineer Bill Loughborough who helped Partch design and build his Marimba Eroica, and whose Boo-Bams (“bamboo spelled sideways”) inspired Partch’s Boo. Bill also played with famed jazz trumpeter Chet Baker, and suggested that Partch write a piece for him, which became: 

ULYSSES DEPARTS FROM THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
— A Minor Adventure in Rhythm —
Scored for three sets of Bill Loughborough’s BOOBAMS,
String Bass, and Bb Trumpet

Baker liked the idea, but never played it due to scheduling problems, after which the piece went through three more reincarnations. Within six months, Partch had finished his own bamboo marimba, rewrote the piece for Bb Clarinet, cello, Diamond Marimba, & Boo, premiering it in November of 1956 after he had moved to Illinois. Soon it was re-scored again, this time adding the Bass Marimba and a baritone saxophone with the famed Chet Baker/Gerry Mulligan duo specifically in mind. Sadly, no performance resulted, but it was recorded in Evanston (1958) with alto saxophone replacing the trumpet, including a punchline at the end. When the definitive trumpet/baritone version was finally recorded for Orion Records in 1971, the record jacket included these words: 

At the time I was writing it the feeling of my hobo years was strong. As a wanderer myself (like Ulysses) I had often been asked the question, “Have you ever been arrested before?” and it struck me as very humorous to be able to ask another wanderer the same question.

Actually, he had always had a punch line in mind for the end of the piece. The original 1955 trio version ended with,

Voice from the orchestra: "Wha’d’ya make of it, Charlie?"

Another voice from the orchestra (Charlie, of course):
			"Don’t ask me. Ask my sister. She’s in-TOO-itive."

1 Ulysses At The Edge Of The World

Composed to celebrate what would have been the hundredth birthday of avant-garde pioneer John Cage, this work pays homage to the ideas and philosophies embodied in his music and his words. Cage was famed for integrating non-traditional instruments into his work and for coaxing unconventional sounds from traditional ones; accordingly, Lizée—herself noted for incorporating turntables and other electronic devices into the concert-music setting—here makes extensive use of various objets trouvés (including typewriters and vinyl records on portable turntables struck with mallets) as percussion instruments, regardless of their original purpose.

 The idea of “preparing” instruments, one of Cage’s most significant contributions to modern music, is reflected here in alterations made to the surfaces of vinyl records, generating new patterns and melodies by creating new paths for the stylus. Lizée has described this piece as a kind of dance party for Cage: “a re-imagining of a rave.”

This work was premiered on March 2, 2012 at the 'So Percussion' concert presented at Koerner Hall in Toronto (Canada).

For more information about Nicole Lizée and her work, please visit our SoundMakers website: http://www.SoundMakers.ca/composers/nicole-lizee


White Label Experiment by Nicole Lizée

At a time when 'alone' can mean many different things, Fair Jenny Alone is an exploration of the experience of singing through the feel of sound and breath in your own body. A work for at-home choir, all choristers sing with this track, imitating the sounds using open and closed hums and open and closed vowels. The Concordia Chamber Choir Choristers submitted audio recordings of themselves, for compilation into one audio file, giving us a chance to hear each other singing alone together in our homes.

Fair Jenny Alone Concordia Chamber Choir Nov 4

Alex Eddington is a composer of experimental and not-as-experimental music for concert stage, electronic media, theatre and dance.  

He is also a writer, theatre performer, music/drama teacher and professional opera surtitlist.

Find out more at www.AlexEddington.com
 
Alex's compositions have been performed by professional ensembles like the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Continuum Contemporary Music, and student musicians at organizations like the Suzuki String School of Guelph.

Alex has performed his own original theatre across Canada on the Fringe Festival circuit, and created music/sound for more than 20 theatre and dance productions across the country.

Alex’s music has been recorded by the Scarborough Philharmonic Orchestra and
released worldwide on their album Canadian Panorama.
His piece "Bubblegum Delicious" was released on the Cambria label in November 2017.

Recent/upcoming commissions: Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Chronos Vocal Ensemble, Toronto Brass Quintet, Jumblies Theatre, Toronto Consort.

Created music for the play "Dark Heart" (Thought For Food Productions) in January 2018.

Three Conjoined Trifles - contrabassoon and piano (2008)

Alex Eddington | composer

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