Pocket Concerto (2013)
Performed by Alarm Will Sound

Pocket Concerto

"Howl" for Improvisation and Electronics
David Pope, saxophone improvisation
Soundscape and audio by Eric Guinivan
Original saxophone samples by David Pope

Video: https://youtu.be/_TjvvkHh88I
Score video: https://youtu.be/oDf59nosNq8
More info about the piece: https://www.ericguinivan.com/howl.html

ABOUT THE PIECE
Howl was created collaboratively by Eric Guinivan and David Pope. I wanted to approach the creation of the piece like an "improvisation feedback loop" and began by recording David improvising. I then used a granular synthesizer to make digital instruments from three samples of Dave's improv and composed the electronic dreamscape that David improvises with live. Since there's no part written for the performer, it's designed with a lot of space and flexibility so that performers of any experience level can tackle it while also practicing improvisation. I wrote the piece while in residence at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico, where a small pack of coyotes lived nearby, inspiring the howling gesture that opens the piece and runs throughout.

Originally written for saxophone solo improvisation, the piece can be performed by any instrument, and sheet music is available in different transpositions. Please contact Eric if you’re interested in performing the piece: https://www.ericguinivan.com/contact.html

"Howl" - David Pope, Saxophone Improvisation

"Howl" for Improvisation and Electronics
Peng Guan, cello improvisation
Soundscape by Eric Guinivan
Recording by Hefang Ma

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IFgTOXrz0Lg
Score video: youtu.be/oDf59nosNq8
More info about the piece: www.ericguinivan.com/howl.html

ABOUT THE PIECE
Howl was created collaboratively by Eric Guinivan and David Pope. I wanted to approach the creation of the piece like an "improvisation feedback loop" and began by recording David improvising. I then used a granular synthesizer to make digital instruments from three samples of Dave's improv and composed the electronic dreamscape that David improvises with live. Since there's no part written for the performer, it's designed with a lot of space and flexibility so that performers of any experience level can tackle it while also practicing improvisation. I wrote the piece while in residence at the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation in Taos, New Mexico, where a small pack of coyotes lived nearby, inspiring the howling gesture that opens the piece and runs throughout.

Originally written for saxophone solo improvisation, the piece can be performed by any instrument, and sheet music is available in different transpositions. Please contact Eric if you’re interested in performing the piece: www.ericguinivan.com/contact.html

"Howl" - Peng Guan, Cello Improvisation

Redshift by Eric Guinivan 
Emily Stevens and Brian Willey, Percussion
Video performance: https://youtu.be/r4U8-0EjtQ0

Recorded December 2024 

Program note and perusal score: https://www.ericguinivan.com/redshift.html
Music available from the composer: https://www.ericguinivan.com/contact.html

Redshift for Percussion Duo and Electronics

"Echo" for Flute and Electronics
by Eric Guinivan
Beth Chandler Cahill, flute
Recorded May 2024 James Madison University
Video performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYY9Koyn3Sk
Music available from the composer: https://www.ericguinivan.com/contact.html

Echo for Flute and Electronics

Autumn Dusk for String Quartet

String Quartet No. 1 (2014)
Commissioned by Chamber Music America for Argus Quartet

0:00   Movement I - Flowing
4:37    Movement II - Freely
11:10    Movement III - Fierce

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Program Note

String Quartet No. 1 is a bithematic exploration of expressivity in three movements.  The first movement, Flowing, is driven by a gentle back-and-forth arpeggiando gesture that is nearly always present. The two primary themes of the piece are introduced by the violin and viola and are woven throughout a tapestry of arpeggiandos and subtly shifting harmonies.  The second movement, titled Freely, embraces a more inward and reflective mood.  Bookended by solo passages for the violin and cello, both themes are revisited against a backdrop of eerie, swaying chords and rustling tremolos.  Movement three, titled Fierce, unleashes a furious barrage of rhythmic energy that dominates the remainder of the piece as the principal themes are propelled towards a tumultuous, roaring conclusion.

String Quartet No. 1 was commissioned for Argus Quartet by the Chamber Music America Classical Commissioning Program with generous funding provided by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the Chamber Music America Endowment Fund.

String Quartet No. 1

Premiered February 2008
University of Southern California Thornton Symphony
Donald Crockett, Conductor
Eric Guinivan, Percussion

Concerto for Percussion and Orchestra

Premiered May 2011, Carnegie Hall, New York City
New York Youth Symphony
Ryan McAdams, Conductor
Eric Guinivan, Percussion

Meditation and Awakening

"Ritual Dances" for Percussion Quartet
Performed by Los Angeles Percussion Quartet

Ritual Dances

Casey Cangelosi, percussion
Video performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jMBCd9PfuMA
Casey's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCIw9gkSYmyj21uAd85Ydu8g
Casey's Website: https://www.caseycangelosi.com/

Hypernova (2020) for percussion solo and electronic playback was written for Casey Cangelosi.  In outer space, a hypernova is a type of stellar explosion which ejects material with unusually high kinetic energy, an order of magnitude higher than most supernovae.  The piece is centered on broad and expansive explosive gestures that give birth to sparkling and technically virtuosic phrases.  The soloist plays a small kit of vibratone, five tuned gongs, tamborim, hi-hat, and kick drum.  The accompanying electronic part is made entirely of acoustic hand-stopped or bowed piano samples that were recorded during and assembled as digital instruments.  There are four main types of these samples used throughout the piece:
 
- Piano with the string hand-muted and the pedal up.  The most agile tape parts are primarily made with these sound samples.
- Piano with the string hand-muted and the sustain pedal down.  Most low, resonant tones and some mid-range notes use these samples.
- Bowed piano, modified with post-production effects to give it an organ-like quality.
- Hand-muted, no-pedal piano samples with the envelope reversed to play backwards as a swell gesture.  You hear this sound at the very beginning of the piece.
 
Check out and follow along with the performance part: https://issuu.com/ericguinivan/docs/guinivan_hypernova_performance_part
 
Please contact the composer at https://www.ericguinivan.com if you are interested in purchasing a physical copy of the music for performance.

HYPERNOVA for percussion and electronics

MATSURI
for Wind Ensemble (orch. 2020)
Originally written for the James Madison University Brass Band, 2017

Electronic Realization made with EastWest Symphonic Orchestra, Sibelius, and FL Studio.  Movement II saxophone solos recorded by David Pope.

Program note and original brass band version: https://www.ericguinivan.com/matsuri.html                   
Perusal score coming soon!

Eric Guinivan

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