A first-person story created for Peter Breslow's Radio Journalism class at Colorado College. It centers around the book The Phantom Tollbooth and my serendipitous meeting of Norton Juster as a child. (2015)

Soundcloud

The Whetherman

Based on a traditional Irish tune, and arranged, orchestrated, and sung by Gabriella Magnani (2016)

If I Was A Blackbird

Composed in the form of a traditional Irish air and arranged for accordion, fiddle, bass, and mandolin. Written, arranged, and accordion by Gabriella Magnani (2016)

Slieve Liag

For Bb clarinet, cello, piano and percussion
Composed at the International Summer Academy of Music for the Joseph Dorfman competition (2017)

Somnis Insidiate

Lead singing and mandolin by Gabriella Magnani (2017)

Sin City

Walls Of Time

Experimental ambient track using vocalizations of resident and transient killer whales from Alaska,  plus electronics. Created for episode 2, "Intelligence", of the podcast by @Ariannish, Saturation. (2018)

Alien Tongue

An experimental piece based on Ovid's elegiac poem Heroides X, written from Ariadne's perspective after being abandoned by Theseus on the island Naxos. Using quotes from the Latin text, the meter of the original poem, an adapted Acient Greek mode, and manipulated recordings of ocean waves from Naxos (using Ableton). Composed for SATB, piano, violin, vibraphone, and digitally-manipulated sound. Performed by Regina Henares, Sophie Javna, Shane Lory, Michael Levaille, Garrett Manion, Anna Palevsky, and Grace Hale, and recorded with the help of Lewis Keller at the studio at Colorado College. (2018)

Mora Mortis

Lullaby for Brooklyn is a solo cello piece written during quarantine. The form is rough and choppy, as if periodically waking from a disturbed sleep. The melody is based on the Lithuanian lullaby Liuliaį dukreli (“Hushabye, my little daughter”).

The piece is sweet and somber, and urges the listener to fall asleep, but within the framework of Lullaby for Brooklyn is ultimately unable to fully ease the dreamer from a state of anxiety and delirium. At the start of the piece (and a bit throughout) the cello moves between straight tone, vibrato, and tremolo, as if trying to breathe deeply while out of breath. The cello also mimics an ambulance whine, a 2-note melody that has become constant and ubiquitous, throughout the day and night.

This piece makes use of an extended technique called “sul tasto”, in which the cellist bows lower than they normally would, creating an airy, out-of-breath sound, like a mother singing softly to a restless child. (2020)

gabriella magnani

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