Overdraft

Lentils, 2006, for piano, MIDI piano, narrator, percussion, alto, and live electronics
Alto- Noa Frenkel
Piano - Teodora Stepancic
Percussion - Haggai Fershtman
Live electronics- Ronald Boersen
Narrator - Dganit Elyakim

According to the Torah, Esau sold his birthright to Jacob for a stew of lentils.
This musical interplay between an original text and theme, and two variations is pregnant with message. The original text is comprised of quotes and references from different times covering the entire history span of human kind: from the bible and folk stories to Ayn Rand, Martin Heidegger and others. The two variations, on the other hand, are built with different levels of Markov Chains with grammatical conditions. The first variation is eerily reminiscent of a typical oracle speech. The second one, however, is obsessively hammering the same points. Only the last text, which is the original one, is intelligible and tells the story behind the rants and prophecies. The music and the text echo each other in terms of spirit.

The piece was composed with the use of different algorithms,  on “AC Toolbox” by Paul Berg (Institution of Sonology, the Royal Conservatory of the Hague), intertwined with  Industrial sounds and  live electronics

Failing Better-320k

Lentils

performed by Amit Biton and Ido Akov, at the Jerusalem academy of music and dance

Corridors Live (excerpt- sections A and B)

David James Lees shares a short guided meditation with affirmations to help you relax and unwind, refocus your thinking, and reconnect to your inner truth and wisdom. Enjoy!

N.B. Do not listen to this recording whilst driving or operating machinery.

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Guided Relaxing Meditation with Affirmations

Playlist:

Bill Dixon
"Nightfalls piece I"
from Intents and Purposes
(RCA Victor)

George Lewis with Douglas Ewart
"The Imaginary Suite:The Phoenix"
from Jila-Save!Mon.-The Imaginary Suite
(Black Saint)

George Lewis with Muhal Richard Abrams and Anthony Davis
"Triple Slow Mix"
from Shadowgraph
(Black Saint)

George Lewis
"Big Shoulders,Sharp Elbows"
(Unreleased)

George Lewis
"Rainbow Family with Derek Bailey"
(Unreleased)

George Lewis
"Morning Blues for Yvan"
from Crosstalk
(Bridge)

George Lewis
"Anthem"
from Relay
(Carrier Records)

Bill Dixon
"Nightfall Pieces II"
from Intents and Purposes
(RCA Victor)

David Murray Octet
"Ming"
from Ming
(Black Saint)

George Lewis
"Emergent"
(Unreleased)

Ilan Volkov - At Home  15 with George Lewis

Blevin Blectum
"the way the cookie crumbles straight from"
from Talon Slalom
(Deluxe)

Johanna Beyer
"Music of the Spheres"
from An Anthology of Noise&Electronic Music Volume 2
(Sub Rosa)

Susan Alcorn
"Broken Obelisk"
from Curandera
(Uma Sounds)

Chris Watson
"Starling Song"
from Outside the circle of fire
(Touch)

Chris Watson
"Vultures"
from Outside the circle of fire
(Touch)

Else Marie Pade
"Lyd og lys"
from Et Glasperlespil
(Dacapo)

David Dunn
Mimus Polyglott
from Music, Language and Environment
(Innova)

Moussa Sondé
"Bopal Solo"
from from The photographs of Charles Duvelle
(Sublime Frequencies)

Orapi
"Pili Pe(Huli)"
from The photographs of Charles Duvelle
(Sublime Frequencies)

Maayan Tsadka
"genus_psittacula-krameri/feather/long"
from Amplification Naturalis
(Weekend EP Project on Bandcamp)

Maayan Tsadka
"No.1" for n o e y e s
from amplifikǎːtsija naː​.​tuːˈraː​.​lis
(unreleased)

Ilan Volkov - At Home  16 with Maayan Tsadka

Georgi Sztojanov 
Angelic books

A selection of movements for 3 mixed choirs on diverse texts from the times of WW1 – in different languages and setups

The three big movements are the core of the piece.
The musical material for these is based on two scales which are put together in a bitonal harmonical sequence, one musical material referring to the other.

These bigger movements are surrounded with ‘Angelic comments’ – on texts of Angelus Silesius. The material for these originates in older sketches of a piece of mine for 12 voices.

The third big movement is based on a Hungarian novel, from which the title of the whole collection came. Although written 100 years ago, the text reflects on a growing problem in our modern world: violent and fanatic nationalism. The writer, Kosztolányi, appoints it as one of the main reasons that lead to WW1 – and wars in general. Shouldn’t we learn from it? And ‘teach our children to love Humans…and make peace?’


Prologue 

“They say: Space, and Time, Now, and Eternity.
What is Space, and Time, Now and Eternity?”

Three times three voices three questions.

I.	Come questa pietra – Marcia

An Italian funeral march. The weeping of a mother, “as cold, as tough… as totally disheartened… as a stone” – a chested, folky melody, introducing one of the scales of the piece. She is joined by growing groups of mourners. Their melodies blend into one harmonic progression.
Meanwhile the decomposed elements of the text are whispered, moving from left to right, and back – the marching of a ghost army.
The culmination: ‘Death is alive’.

II.	Saillant / Der Abend, Im Osten 
-  A (never ending) night on the (never ending) field

In the 2nd movement we hear the French and the German side, and in-between the noises of the emptiness - The tragic ‘boredom’ and uncertainty of the Front.
Suddenly a fight occurs, an explosion, from which we return to the weeping material of the 1st movement. Someone starts singing a Christmas carol: ‘Veni, veni Emmanuel’ (first in the scale of the piece, then slowly going back to its original modal form). The Latin text version is echoed in French and English.
Both parties join the song, for a day, instead of killing, comes the message of Love and Light. 
Then Death returns.

Intermezzo 

Chromatic etude - the leaves slowly falling and fading, so as we do, on our way to doom.
“Die before you have to die, so when you have to die you don’t die, otherwise you’ll be damned.”

III.	Nemzetesdi (Playing ‘Nationalism’)

Describing a nightmare of sick children (the different nations) lying on beds next to each other, and still screaming in their nightmares each other’s names – fearing they might be attacked by each other. 
Being lost in his thoughts, the writer draws his conclusions: 
‘Shouldn’t… all the poets, All the good-willed people of the world unite,
Write teaching books, respectable, smart, Angelic books…
So that our children can learn to love Humans… and make peace’.

Epilogue 

The angels talk about losing one’s self for God.
Is this self-sacrifice what brings us above ourselves? – or is it what is also used to motivate us to die or kill for our nation, religion or belief? 

This choral has “haunted me” for long time, before it found its place as the ending of Angelic Books.