A reading of a nine minute work for string quartet written in 2012. 

Dedicated to Hendel Almetus

“There came to him an image of man’s whole life upon the earth. It seemed to him that all man’s life was like a tiny spurt of flame that blazed out briefly in an illimitable and terrifying darkness, and that all man’s grandeur, tragic dignity, his heroic glory, came from the brevity and smallness of this flame. He knew his life was little and would be extinguished, and that only darkness was immense and everlasting. And he knew that he would die with defiance on his lips, and that the shout of his denial would ring with the last pulsing of his heart into the maw of all-engulfing night.”

- Thomas Wolfe

Maw for String Quartet (2012)

An re-imagining of "comme femme à 4 odhecaton agricola"

After Agricola No.1

Echo Flute was written for the Empyrean Ensemble with Tod Brody on flute. This recording is from the premiere at UC Davis on February 12, 2023.

Echo Flute is an instruction: echo the flute! That simple directive encapsulates the ensemble’s role, realized in various styles, textures, and moods. There is no meter, no beat, and no conductor. Each musician plays in free rhythm, subtly adjusting their timing to stay just behind, and sometimes ahead of, the solo flute. The idea of staying loosely tethered to a leader was influenced by the unmetered textures of pathetan in traditional Javanese gamelan. The beautiful resonance of the UC Davis Pitzer Center concert hall was the inspiration for the initial concept of quiet echoes.

Echo Flute is composed for solo flute with open instrumentation. Musicians make decisions regarding register, timbre, and timing. Echo Flute was composed on request from the Empyrean Ensemble. Thanks to Sam Nichols and the musicians for making this project possible.

Echo Flute

Live recording @ Coaxial, Los Angeles on May 5th, 2023

to new forest for bass flute - Erik Ulman

Performed by Stacey Pelinka and the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble

Night Of The South Winds (Flute Concerto)

When I was little, around five or six years old, I had a habit where I would immediately—half consciously—repeat whatever it was I had just said, but I’d repeat it in a kind of strangled half-whisper. I have clear memories of doing this, and I don’t remember why, exactly, I did it, but I think it was to try to hear what I was saying. I think that I wanted a chance to check over what I had said, to see if it felt right, if I actually believed it, and if it had been worth saying. This habit of mine, my constant mumbling and muttering, my messed-up echoes, drove my older siblings crazy. "Mumble Chords" uses a few ordinary, everyday musical materials to try to evoke a similar effect. As the piece continues, the broken-down echoes start to drift apart from the “regular” music. 

This piece is dedicated, with mad respect, to Davy Rakowski. He’s been unfailingly patient with me and his other students, past and present, no matter how much trouble we have spitting it out. 

This is a live recording, featuring Jan Müller-Szeraws, performing at the October 1 2023 concert at Brandeis University, in honor of David Rakowski's 65th birthday.

Mumble Chords for solo cello

Bachstro Plutaños Saarigeti was written for Michelle Gott and Emily Levin for the 2023 PRISMS Contemporary Music Festival at Arizona State University. The title of this piece is a portmanteau of the five composers whose music directly influenced this piece: JS Bach, Chris Castro, Sam Pluta, György Ligeti and Kaija Saariaho.

This piece is warmly dedicated to Chris Castro, who showed me some fascinating new discoveries in Bach’s Well Tempered Clavier, which eventually led to this piece. Thanks Chris!

Recording by Kylar Gardner. 

The electronics are entirely controlled and generated by the harps: the max patch detects the pitch, dynamics (amplitude) and brightness (spectral centroid) of the harps' incoming signals, and the electronics react independently in various ways to these parameters.

This work is part of an ongoing research-creation project that explores various approaches to technologically-mediated performance practice.

Bachstro Plutaños Saarigeti

Knotted Silk

Reverent Murmurs was written for Sarah Cahill and Eric Zivian, commissioned by the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble. The work serves as a companion piece to Olivier Messiaen's Visions de l'Amen. With Messiaen's monumental work in mind, I composed a quiet prelude (or postlude) to place the listener in a relaxed state of concentration, to focus the mind for the larger work to come.

When composing, I drew influence from the tradition of preludes and postludes in Javanese gamelan, known as pathetan, which accompany larger, more substantial works. Pathetan are considered small pieces in their own right, although they never exist in isolation. As preludes they foster the proper atmosphere for the upcoming work; as postludes they provide a sublime end to a musical suite.

In Reverent Murmurs, a gently shifting fog of notes fills the space and acts as a backdrop for fleeting visions, or memories, of Messiaen's music. These brief murmurs are made of tiny flecks of music from passages within Visions de l'Amen, blended together, appearing in a flash, and disappearing just as quickly.

Reverent Murmurs

Poem text and context: https://www.brainpickings.org/2019/04/16/zadie-smith-reads-frank-ohara/

POEM TEXT / CONTEXT

Zadie Smith reads "Animals" by Frank O'Hara

Chris Castro is a composer, double bassist, theorist, and educator residing in Southern California. He is a recipient of the 2023 Fromm Music Foundation Commission from Harvard University and Chamber Music America's 2021 Classical Commissioning Award. His music has been described as "on par with Varèse" (anonymous CMA juror) and “at once celebratory and solemn” (San Francisco Classical Voice). His music draws from the rich tradition of Western Art Music, from Johannes Ockeghem's Missa Prolationum to John Coltrane's Ascension. As a new music advocate, Chris serves on the artistic advisory board for the Left Coast Chamber Ensemble, New Mexico Contemporary Ensemble, and will be premiering two solo double bass works written for him by Phil Acimovic and Linda Catlin Smith in the fall of 2024. Chris holds degrees from the Juilliard School (double bass and composition) and a PhD from the University of California, Davis in composition and music theory. He lectures for the Los Angeles Philharmonic's Upbeat Live series. He is an Assistant Professor of Composition at Chapman University. 

Website: https://www.chriscastrocomposer.com

Contact: crcastro36@gmail.com

Selected list of works:
Missa Brevis for Bass Clarinet and Double Bass (2024)
Tumba for Alto Flute, Cello, and Well-Tempered Clavier (2024)
Lines for Flute(s), Percussion, Harp, Viola, & Cello (2024)
Forms & Doubles for Flute(s) and Viola (2024)
Two Partsongs for Treble Voices (2024)
Canções dos Desassossego (Songs of Disquiet) for Soprano and String Quartet (2023)
Á la tienne! for Speaking Pianist (2023)
Eight Pops & A Center Pop for Contralto, Viola, Cello, and Organ (2023)
Snow White & Rose Red for Storyteller and Orchestra (2023)
Two Songs & Two Doubles for Voice and Well-Tempered Clavier (2023)
Miroirs Obscurcis for Well-Tempered Clavier (2023)
1722 for Open Instrumentation (2022)
Fauxbourdon After Ellington for Open Instrumentation (2022)
Two Songs for the OPP (from Brooklyn Narcissus) for Soprano and Chamber Ensemble (2022)
Clock-a-clay for Piano Trio (2021)
Beethausenstro - Castockhoven for Two Pianos (2020)
La for Alto Flute, Bass Clarinet, and Viola (2019)
Brooklyn Narcissus II for Soprano and Chamber Orchestra (2019)
Coyote Goes To The Sky & Birds Of Fortune: Two Stories for Storyteller, Flute, Cello, and Percussion (2019)
Sing High for Violin and Orchestra (2018)
Easy & Sad for Seven players (2018)
Choruses IV for String Quartet (2017)
IV - I for Two Pianos (2017)
Choruses III for Chamber Orchestra (2017)
Music for the short-film 'Postmodern Love' (2017)
A Drinking Song for SATB Choir (2017)
Brooklyn Narcissus I for Solo Soprano (2017)
Sing Low for Trombone and Ensemble (2017)
Choruses II for Violin and Piano (2016)
Ruines for Flute and Chamber Ensemble (2016)
Cavatine for Orchestra (2016)
Nocturne for Flute, Clarinet, Cello (2015)
Scherzo for Flute, Oboe, Clarinet (2015)
Cavatine for Solo Cello (2015)
Variations on an Original Theme for Clarinet, Violin, and Piano (2015)
Choruses I for String Quartet (2015)
Storm Fear for Mezzo-soprano and Piano (2014)
Poseidon's Steeds for Women's Choir and Organ (2014)
Movement for Piano (2014)
Etude for Percussion and Electronics (2013)
Fantasy on a Theme of James Bassi (backwards) for Flute, Clarinet, Violin, Viola, and Cello (2013)
Maw for String Quartet (2012)
Brooklyn Hymn-Variations for Saxophone Ensemble (2012)
Song of Quietness for SATB Chorus (2012)
Hymn and Fuguin' Tune for Cello Duo (2011)
When Jesus Wept (After Billings) for Brass Quintet (2011)
Monolith (A Symphonic Sketch) for Orchestra (2010)
Kyrie for SATB Chorus (2010)
Burn Like Roman Candles for Big Band (2009)
Suite for Double Bass (2008)
Nothing for String Quartet (2008)
Essay for Orchestra (2007)

Maw for String Quartet (2012)

Chris Castro

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