Live recording from the world premiere of the full/revised version: "Callithumpian Consort: Karchin, Murail, Chacon, Rădulescu, Lee, and Montgomery"
Ariel Fei Mo, piano
Jordan Hall, New England Conservatory, Boston, US
January 18, 2022

“NEC faculty Stephen Drury created the Callithumpian Consort in the belief that new music should be an exciting adventure shared by performers and listeners alike, and that the brand new masterpieces of our day are beautiful, sensuous, challenging, delightful, provocative, and a unique joy.”

Program notes
This work is strongly based on bell acoustics. The bell’s luminous and sometimes even spiritual sonic physiognomies include not only inharmonic spectral components that come from its primeval shape of a simple circular plate (R. Perrin and T.D. Rossing, 1984), but also a myriad of artificially created non-tonal intervals generated by an infinite number of vibrational modes described as hum, prime, quint, and nominal. Besides this idiosyncratic frequency content, the evolutional behavior of each harmonic spectrum in the time-domain has very unique features, which includes an eruption of splash tones and hauntingly-long beatings afterwards. These unusual sonic properties with religious aura attracted not only composers (such as Debussy’s Cloches à travers les feuilles, Schoenberg’s Op. 19, No. 6, and Knussen’s prayer bell sketch, to name a few) but also poets, scientists, painters, and all manner of people for more than a thousand of years. All of these campanologic features became the core materials of this work.

Jonathan Harvey wrote his early magnum opus, Mortuos Plango, Vivos Voco (1980) based on sounds from the tenor bell at Winchester Cathedral and the voice of his own son. The original bell spectrum he employed in the piece became the aural seed of this work; I magnified the sound space of the initial spectra by creating additional tones resulting from frequency modulation equations—also frequently used by Harvey: one that Harvey called ‘equal addition compression’ (Michael Downes, 2009) is a customized version of FM formula—while preserving the original bell frequencies as a quasi-Cantus Firmi. For the opening Allegro Spiritoso section, I used an algorithm devised by my teacher, Heinrich Taube, which is included in the FM composition tutorial for his software, GRACE. This process creates astonishingly beautiful and concise compositions in real time, based on a simple FM formula and its algorithmic deployment. I developed and accreted this algorithm for my own compositional purposes in MATLab to magnify the aural details of Harvey’s original bell sounds and to formally plan and control those harmonic materials.

Harvey’s music has always been a profound source of inspirations in my musical journey, and so this work may be considered an hommage. As a student, I carried at least one of his scores in my bag for a substantial period of time and thus, the title given is to honor to him and express my gratitude.

Le Tombeau de Harvey (2018, rev. 2019) for solo piano

Instrumentation

Orchester (par 2)
2(:pic)/2(:ca)/3(:PTcl:clB)/2(:cbn) – 2/2/1/0 – perc – perc – hrp – pno(:cel) – 6/5/4/4/2

Duration
ca. 3’45”

Premiere / Recording

Flavien Boy || Orchestre des Lauréats du Conservatoire || CNSMDP – Salle Vincent Meyer || 31 March 2022

Title
Arc-en-ciel

Subtitle
Orchestration of the Ligeti’s Piano Étude 5 – Arc-en-ciel

Arc-en-ciel _ Orchestration of the Ligeti’s Piano Étude 5

Massive thanks to:
• EVOKE TATTOOS CHICAGO for the dope space they provided
• CRUISE MYERS  https://soundcloud.com/cruise222 for the dope performance 
• BROOKE M. ENGLEHART for the dope and super freaky costume that she created 
• H12 AUDIO for the dope mastering
————————
Ancient Greek text: 
Πρὸ τοῦ ἐμβῆναι ἐν βάθει εἰς τοιαῦτα μυστήρια, γνώθι:
ὁ παντοδύναμος νέος θεός ἡμῶν μεταβάλλει τὸν ἄνθρωπον 
πρὸς πηλόν πάλιν.
ὦ Δὶa
Ὦ Δὶa, ἄκουσον τὰς προσευχὰς τὰς κλαίουσας,
ἀναστῆθι ἐκ σήψεως, ἵνα γένωμαι τὸ παιδίον σου!
Ἔσο ὑπόσχεσίς μου!
Ἄκουε.
Ἄκουε, νεφέλωμα τοῦ ὑψίστου οὐρανοῦ,
ὡς γαυγίζει ὥσπερ πεινών κύων.
Μακάριος ἐστὶν ὁ δουλεύων τῷ Διὶ.
ὦ Δὶa
ὦ Δὶa
————————
English translation:
Before entering deeply into such mysteries, know:
our almighty new god turns man back into mud 
ὦ Zeus 
ὦ Zeus, listen to my weeping prayers,
rise from decay, so that I give birth to your child!
That's my promise!
Listen.
Listen, to the nebula of the heavenly highest sky,
as it howls like a hungry dog.
Blessed is he who works for Zeus.
ὦ Zeus
ὦ Zeus

RITUAL for Double bass, live electronics & lights (LYRICS IN DESCRIPTION)

Piano Trio
Luke Hsu, violin
Rainer Crosett, cello
Yehuda Inbar, piano

Photo by David John Cooper

tra di noi

Missa Laudato Si’ (2023–25)
for Six Singers, SATB Chorus, Treble Chorus, and 12 Instruments
여섯명의 솔로이스트, 합창단, 높은 음 합창단, 열 두 악기를 위한, “찬미받으소서 미사"

I. KYRIE ELEISON
The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species

II. GLORIA
Canticle of the Creatures

III. AGNUS DEI
Refugee; quasi una poesia

IV. ITE, MISSA EST
One person’s truth

Commissioned by The EcoVoice Project

World premiere live recording
New Earth Ensemble, Ignatian Voices, University Singers, and University Chorale 
Kirsten Hedegaard, conductor 
March 2025, Madonna della Strada Chapel, Chicago
Video and Audio director: Garry Grasinski

New Earth Ensemble
Lydia Walsh Rock, soprano
Tiana Sorenson, soprano
Gabrielle Timofeeva López, alto
Steven Wilson, tenor
Joe Labozetta, baritone
John Orduña, bass

Claudia Cryer, fl
Deb Stephenson, ob
Michael Tran, cl
Ben Riodl Ward, bsn
John Corkill, perc
Nolan Ehlers, perc
Ben Melsky, hp
Chungho Lee, pf
Caitlin Edwards, vn 1
Sarah Kim, vn 2
Vannia Phillips, vla
Matthew Agnew, vlc

Program notes
Missa Laudato Si’ is a new mass written in the spirit of Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si’, where he deplored: “For human beings to degrade the integrity of the earth by causing changes in its climate, [...] for human beings to contaminate the earth’s waters, its land, its air, and its life – these are sins.” In the form of a Mass, it contemplates climate change and caring for the earth by intertwining the Latin Mass text with prayers, poems, and texts about contaminated soil and water, and all the threatened creatures living under the climate and plastic crises, including “the tragic effects of environmental degradation on the lives of the world’s poorest.”

When Kirsten approached me in the summer of 2023 with her vision of creating a new ecological mass setting, I saw significant possibilities. I view this opportunity to create a mass, one of the oldest musical art forms, as a vehicle to convey forward-looking perspectives and propose an emotional and spiritual solution to one of humanity’s most urgent and critical issues, focusing on the voices of the earth and the marginalized.

The mass encompasses a full spectrum of human expression, including forgiveness, anger, lament, celebration, despair, joy, faith, awe, and mercy. It adapts the traditional Missa Solemnis by omitting the Credo and Sanctus, while adding an Ite, Missa est section—with texts from Canticle of the Creatures by Saint Francis of Assisi, the poem Refugee by Syrian poet Abdullah Kasem Al Yatim (used with permission) with my own contribution, endangered species data from the IUCN Red List (used with permission), the poem One Person’s Truth by Korean Zen poet Shiva Ryu, and prayers from Pope Francis’s Missa Laudato Si’. In Agnus Dei, Al Yatim’s poem is paired with an AI-generated translation into ancient Syriac/Aramaic—a language closely related to what Jesus and the apostles spoke. Additional sound materials include my research on the Earth’s Schumann resonance—its low-frequency electromagnetic “breath”—and my adaptation of the Arabic Maqam scale.

Pragmatically, Missa Laudato Si’ is designed to be performed by university-level choir singers. The performance difficulty is meticulously calibrated so that student singers can actively participate, supported by graduate-level/professional performers who handle the more virtuosic material. I aim for this opportunity to be a transformative experience for students, deepening their understanding of the interconnectedness of our planet and cultivating awareness of our spiritual connection to the rest of creation. 

Missa Laudato Si’ was premiered in March 2025 by Loyola’s Ignatian Voices, University Chorale, and University Singers, together with the New Earth Ensemble from The EcoVoice Project. Missa Laudato Si’ is commissioned by the EcoVoice Project, and dedicated to Pope Francis, in memoriam, and to Kirsten Hedegaard, with deep admiration.

Missa Laudato Si’ (2023–25), II. GLORIA–Canticle of the Creatures

等到下雪的那天...

This piece was made as the first miniProject during my cursus in IRCAM 2025

BADTRIP_ADVISOR_#2 for electronics

Migration has long shaped the course of history, driven by shifting landscapes— both physical and social. Journey to the West 走西口 takes its name from the historical movement of the Han people from central China beyond the Great Wall, a journey undertaken in pursuit of livelihood and stability. Across generations, the impulse to leave one’s homeland has taken many forms— born from necessity, uncertainty, or quiet resolve.

Journey to the West 走西口 (2025)

performed by Goethe Quartet
Luke Hsu & Laura Rickard, violins
Marthe Husum, viola
Rainer Crosett, cello

Dedicated to Mina Yu, painter
based on aria Non più mesta from La Cenerentola by Gioachino Rossini

Painting by Eric Rannestad

Non più mesta -  96k - 24b

As the title suggests, Epigram is a miniature for wind ensemble. My primary goal with this piece is to explore the ensemble's expressive range by contrasting extreme volume with silence.

The structure is distinctly divided into two parts, where the first section feels violent, turbulent, and even chaotic. Here, the brass invokes a sense of Gregorian chant Dies irae, creating a metallic and unstable soundscape that symbolizes the apocalypse.

The music then shifts dramatically in the second section. The massive sound of the full ensemble dissolves into a delicate chamber texture. A single piano anchors the harmonic background, while solo woodwinds weave together in a heterophonic texture. To enhance this contrast, the percussionists are instructed to remain physically motionless, while the other wind instruments utilize air sounds and clicking sound to create a rustling effect.

This transition serves as a metaphor for the aftermath of the judgment—a moment of absolute stillness and the New Creation rising from the ashes.

Performed by the Boston Conservatory Composers Wind Ensemble, conducted by Matthew Marsit.

Epigram - for wind ensemble (2025)

VIDEO OF A MORE RECENT PERFORMANCE AVAILABLE HERE:
https://youtu.be/8hdO_rpTHaI

This audio:
Odile Auboin, viola
Emmanuelle Ophele, bass flute
Clément Saunier, flugelhorn

Soloists of the Ensemble InterContemporain
Live performance from Manifeste 2019, Paris

This is an acoustic sculptural piece – the unusual disposition of the instruments on stage and the use of voice and close/open pipes create the illusion of sound coming from the inside of a three-dimensional body, at times fully manifesting itself to the outside as the body opens its oral apparatus. The three instruments are positioned in a line perpendicular to the audience. The detuned viola faces the audience and projects its sound forward, while the bass flute (positioned facing sideways) works as a sonorous bridge to the flugelhorn facing the back of the stage.

The piece starts with an embryonic representation of a creature that breaths sound in and out. A feeble heartbeat can be heard moving inside this creature – from the open mouth (viola) to the depth of the lungs (flugelhorn) – in synchrony with the breathing. Vocal sounds born inside the body move forward towards the sculpture’s mouth. The creation of proto-words manifests the presence of the Homo Sapiens (the wise/knowledgeable hominid). The complex nature of Sapiens moves the piece towards a progressive splitting in space of its personality. The three instruments, that at the beginning were cooperating as integral parts of a single body, start acquiring contrasting characteristics and becoming more and more independent. The complex nature of the human being, so much studied and yet uncontrollable can fascinate, confuse, scare…we are humans, perhaps all-too-sapiens.

Gerardo Gozzi: Homo Sapiens, all-too-Sapiens (for viola, bass flute and flugelhorn)

Boston based composer, pianist and programmer

Epigram - for wind ensemble (2025)

Hangzhong LIAN

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