https://cassandramiller.wordpress.com/2009/08/30/large-house/

(photo by Susanna Majuri used here without permission)

When I called this piece “A Large House” it was a title I thought up in a hurry, for no specific reason, and it just seemed to fit. In retrospect, it fits because this piece more than any other made me feel like an architect. I was writing something that was a large space, open, but perhaps with huge pillars holding it up. The piece is stationary, it doesn’t move, it’s grounded in one place, and maybe it even resonates like something with a lofty ceiling. As for any other connection between this piece and a large house, you are welcome to make it as you like.

A Large House

Large House (full) - Janacek Philharmonic, Peter Rundell cond., premiere (2009)

https://cassandramiller.wordpress.com/2015/05/10/about-bach/

This string quartet is an expansion of a solo work for viola (of the same name) which was commissioned by philanthropist Daniel Cooper for violist Pemi Paull. It’s a piece about process, about Pemi’s musicality, about Bach of course, and in the end, about the Quatuor Bozzini.

I first took a recording of a short phrase (the first phrase in major) of the famous Chaconne from Bach’s Partita no. 2, performed live by Pemi. I then meticulously transcribed the recording with the help of some software — this is a process I’ve developed over some years to apprehend the exact rhythmic musicality of a performance, capturing as well various artifacts such as the viola’s upper partials as they change within each bow-stroke.

The opening of the piece is simply this transcribed phrase of Bach, with a harmony of my own making, which turns the phrase into a gently jaunty chorale. From there the phrase goes through a somewhat inaudible process that is simply let to run, until it runs itself out. It’s a constant meandering, a non-developmental piece in an extreme sense. My interest (and freedom) in exploring such a simple form comes directly from working with the Quatuor Bozzini, and this string quartet version is a souvenir of gratitude for years of great inspiration.

About Bach

About Bach, Quatuor Bozzini, premiere, excerpt: last 6 minutes (2015)

Commissioned by EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble. 
https://cassandramiller.wordpress.com/2013/10/22/guide/

Guide

Guide - EXAUDI Vocal Ensemble (2013)

https://cassandramiller.wordpress.com/2011/03/13/warblework/

https://itunes.apple.com/ca/album/warblework-swainsons-thrush/id475163576?i=475163593

À chacun sa miniature

Warblework: Swainson's Thrush

Warblework: Swainson’s Thrush - Quatuor Bozzini (2011)

https://cassandramiller.wordpress.com/2006/09/30/orfeo/

A short piece in eight movements. With each movement, I pruned the material so to include what I'd hoped was the smallest amount of information necessary to make each statement. Each movement is loosely based on sections of the opera l'Orfeo, by Claudio Monteverdi (marking 400 years since its first performance).  A theatrical piece with children's toys and dramatic page turning.

Orfeo by Monteverdi by Cassandra Miller (2006)

9 percussionists (8 timpani and 1 bass drum/tam-tam) with viola and cello. 1998. 10 minutes.

Each of the 8 timpani has its own player. The percussionists play mostly with knitting needles, a very quiet sound. The variation in the sound is made by playing on different locations on each drum head.

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