 I pursue the intersection between timbral and tonal expression. Tonal expression is deeply embedded while timbral expression brings new opportunities for exploration. Timbral music requires new methods of composition to break free of the dictates of western music notation. Sampling provides an avenue for using tonal music within other frameworks. I use my own graphical notation system, the scores are then played programmatically using samples as the source. This provides for seamless intermixing of melody and timbre and the interplay between the two.

This piece came out of a few distinct inspirations. When the idea came to me, I was listening to a lot of Steve Reich and John Adams music, and studying their techniques of building texture. At the same time, I listened to a piece by Ludger Brümmer called Le Tombeau de Maurice where he used samples from a performance of Maurice Ravel's Le Tombeau de Couperin. He generated textures that would rapidly morph into almost direct quotes from the sampled piece. I got the idea to try to combine minimalist textures with this kind of rapid transformation. It made for an interesting contrast between very clearly tonal and very clearly timbral music. I chose to sample a piece by Duke Ellington because the mood was similar in spirit to my intentions. Also, the piano provided good source material for the textures I intended to create. In terms of the technique actually used for composing, I drew on one of my very original inspirations for getting into computer music: Iannis Xenakis' Mycenae Alpha.

More info and complete sources are available here:
http://at.or.at/hans/solitude/

Hans-Christoph Steiner

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