Composed by Brian Garbet.
Performed by François Houle and Brian Garbet.
Copyright © 2020

Manifest

In terms of material and process I decided the concept of ‘less is more’ would be the focus of this composition. A tam-tam, basin of water, found sound on tape, and the human voice provided the sound palette. As a painter mixes colours, my goal was to combine the materials in various ways, such as submerging the tam-tam in the water, to provide variation in the timbre.

Prize winner - Jeu de Temps/Times Play - JTTP 2002, Canadian Electroacoustic Community. Montréal, QC, Canada

Ritual

Performed by Quatuor Bozzini at Simon Fraser University June 6, 2014.

This work was inspired by the life of a great man.

Born in modern-day Croatia on July 10, 1856, legend has it that he came into this world appropriately during an intense thunder and lightning storm. As the story goes, he immigrated to America in 1884 with only four pennies to his name. He was a remarkable mechanical inventor and electrical engineer with unparalleled vision and an eidetic memory. His life’s work would usher in the modern age of technology. Some of this futurist’s accomplishments include inventing polyphase AC current, the modern induction engine, wireless technology and communication, radar, X-ray technology, and key patents leading to radio. Financial gain was not a priority, nor was business acumen a strength, instead he genuinely wanted to improve the lives of all people. His financial backing was pulled once it was learned he intended to provide free global wireless electricity. Obsessed with the number three, he lived out his final years in room 3327 on the 33rd floor of the New Yorker Hotel. Nikola Tesla passed away alone there on January 7, 1943. Family lore has it, 86 years earlier there was a thunderclap during that storm that prompted the midwife to fearfully proclaim “He’ll be a child of the storm” to which his mother replied “No, of light.”

Of Light

Short work for solo cello commissioned by Clara Shandler to be included in the Sidewalk Cellist’s “Free Outdoor Cello Concert Series”, an initiative to perform a wide variety of musical works and showcase Canadian and Vancouver-based composers to the Vancouver public. “Brian’s piece was both innovative and interesting, weird but easy to listen to. It was written very idiomatically for the cello as well as gave the performer a few fun challenges.” – Clara Shandler

Recording performed by Clara Shandler at the UBC Composer’s Concert on Friday, March 16, 2012.

Brian Garbet

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