Performed live by Unsupervised at Ear Taxi Festival in Chicago, 2021.  Full score available through marthacallisonhorst.com.

Quiltage- mvt III

An Elemental Music (2022) for orchestra

Commissioned by the La Jolla Symphony & Chorus
Performed by the La Jolla Symphony, cond. Michael Gerdes, March 2023

I. Crisp, bright
II. The Cold Song. Desolate, icy
III. Dark, mysterious — As in the first movement — Presto

In the three movements of "An Elemental Music," I seek to explore basic musical materials—things that are primary, fundamental, or “elemental”—in fresh and unanticipated ways. I wanted to delve into some of the core components of my musical craft, and I hoped to infuse them with a new vitality.

In the first movement, I start from a chord (the dominant seventh) ubiquitous in many musical genres, from nineteenth- century symphonies to the twelve-bar blues. But rather than using the chord as a means to an end, I view it as an object of musical exploration in its own right, treating it like a hub where many different harmonic paths converge. The music explores these paths in turn, winding through the orchestra in lively and colorful fashion.

The second movement is by far the longest of the three, comprising over half the total playing time of the work. The movement is a very free reimagining of the aria “What Power Art Thou” from Henry Purcell’s "King Arthur," also known as the “Cold Song.” In Purcell’s aria, the spirit of winter (the “Cold Genius”) is summoned to life: here, then, I use the word “elemental” not only as an adjective, but also as a noun, referring to the primal forces of nature that the Cold Genius embodies. In my version, I freely transform the shivering staccato motif and aspects of the harmonic progression from Purcell’s original, gradually building to an intense, chilling depiction of the Cold Genius. Fittingly, I finished this piece on a day of subzero temperatures in central Illinois.

The brief third movement revisits materials from the first, but in a distorted, out-of-order fashion—perhaps as if being recalled from a distant memory. The music eventually transforms itself into a jig that gives way to a grotesque, march-like climax.

An Elemental Music

Vocal: Katarina Pilotti
Composer: Ehsan Tavakkol
Based on the Russian folk song
Translator Russian text to Swedish: Göran Zachrison
Design of the cover: Ehsan Tavakkol

Björken

Excerpt from Trio for flute/bass flute, viola, and harp.  Premiered by Empyrean Ensemble in October, 2024

Dickinson III-IV

Movement II of work for wind symphony.  Premiered by Illinois State University Wind Symphony in 2018.

Who Has Seen the Wind-II

Chamber Symphony - I Beyond The Zero - EXCERPT

Bitter Segah - Ehsan Tavakkol

Premiered by the Chicago Composers Orchestra on April 22, 2017.

Cloud Gate

rehearsal of Infinite Gestures made in March, 2018 before the premiere of this work at the NASA Biennial Conference in Cincinnati, OH.  Video of premiere may be found at:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2i2mHOSbe70

Bitter Segah - Ehsan Tavakkol

EhsanTavakkol

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