"For David Lee", for solo cello, fixed media, and live processing
by Mariel Roberts
Performed February 5th 2021 at Roulette in Brooklyn NY

For David Lee

co-commissioned by the SWR Symphonieorchester and the ELISION Ensemble 
dedicated to Robin Kirkham

premiered by the SWR Symphonieorchester and the ELISION Ensemble at the ECLAT Festival, February 2, 2024

conducted by Brad Lubman

For Seed I:
Peter Veale, baroque oboe
Carl Rosman, 3-key baroque clarinet in D and basson de chalumeau
James Aylward, baroque bassoon 
Alex Waite, harpsichord

For Seed II:
Christoph Grund, piano
Ursula Eisert, harp
SWR Symphonieorchester

Not intended as a concerto, Das Phonem zwischen zwei Wörtern (b) is composed in two different tunings for two interdependent pieces, which can be performed together or as two stand-alone works. Written for baroque ensemble and large orchestra, this work is the second part of a three-part cycle, which engages with a multidimensional study on timbral and harmonic spaces, intended to offer an approach for re-thinking how discrete mappings of a given tuning can be re-imagined simultaneously within continuous terms.

In this work, the piece engaging with the large orchestra was written in 443Hz and composed in relation to a 3D acoustic model that I designed based on architectural structures that are no longer standing — namely the 6th-century Basilica of St. John in Ephesus and the Church of the Holy Apostles in Constantinople. Rather than for simulation or a fixed point of observation, this approach to 3D modeling was activated to develop sonic-temporal architecture emerging from two spaces, as a way to visualize and re-imagine what lies in-between, through which embodied spaces of the pasts that have been erased become visible through corporeal reach and sound.

This cycle brings together collaborative research initiated in parallel with the study informed by the 3D modeling. Initiated in 2022, this research is based on numerous sessions conducted with Peter Veale on performing baroque oboe and modern oboe; Carl Rosman on performing 3-key baroque clarinet in D, modern clarinet in Bb as well as basson du chalumeau and modern bass clarinet; James Aylward on performing baroque bassoon and modern bassoon; and Alex Waite on performing harpsichord and piano.

Written in 415Hz, the piece composed for the “baroque ensemble” is informed by this research, and correspondingly engages with instrument design and its relation to body and space, not as means to arrange a fixed past with a fixed present, but rather to trace how coeval pasts inform contemporary performance praxes, while also unpacking the conditions surrounding how instrument design relates to embodiment and space.

Activating interrelationships of sound, space, and corporeality as a mode of unlearning, Das Phonem zwischen zwei Wörtern (b) in its simultaneity is therefore an effort to take account for what may be not rendered visible, but is nevertheless present in space, and to address traces of multiple pasts not just in relation to the conditions of what remains, but also to the conditions of erasure.

Das Phonem zwischen zwei Wörtern (b), for baroque ensemble and large orchestra

s. sx., ob., perc., pno., e. gtr., vla., cb.

Performed by Dal Niente at Harvard University, 16 May 2015.

Ryan Muncy, Andrew Nogal, Eric Derr, Mabel Kwan, Jesse Langen, Ammie Brod, Mark Buchner

bind me, take me, amplifier, humidifier is about heartening backgrounds: the background radiations of existence, both aural and psychological, against which I live, subconsciously buoyed by their referential baseline, only noticing them when they're gone, a noticing which manifests as desperation, longing, and an awe at the dutiful devotion with which their work is carried out. This music is as much about the performers' familiarity with and trust in each other, and me, as it is about the specific sounds they make.

bind me, take me, amplifier, humidifier

2 - 05 Wakef Ala Shat Baher (Standing On The Shore)

L'orchestre Philharmonic de Radio France, cond. Marc Desmons performs an excerpt from Leaf fabric (2017) as part of IRCAM's Manifeste 2019 orchestral workshop.

Originally commissioned by Georg Haas for the Tokyo Symphony Orchestra, this excerpt is from the last four minutes of the piece. DM for perusal recording of complete work.

Leaf Fabric (excerpt)

I have a lot to learn (2019)
Richard Valitutto, piano
live recording from Cornell University, April 17, 2019

I have a lot to learn

Fragments from a proposal for Klangraum (Day 5)

actualised with 
Cat Lamb 
Rebecca Lane 
Derek Shirley 
Johnny Chang

Fragments from a proposal for Klangraum (Day 5)

// TRACKLIST

ZEBRA KATZ FT. NJENA REDDD FOXXX: Ima read
SHACKLETON: Fireworks
KODE9 & SPACEAPE: Sine of the dub
SOUTH3RN: Krang
SPHERIX FT. KWALITY: Look back
SENSE CLUB: Tanzglätte
PANGAEA: Inna daze
CASSY: April
KODE9 VS LD: Bad
INTRUSION: Tswana dub (Phase90 restructure)
PEARSON SOUND: Indelible
PANGAEA: Sunset yellow
SENSE CLUB: Tanzglätte
KYLA: Daydreaming
PEARSON SOUND: Blanked
SENSE CLUB: Tanzglätte
ADONIS: No way back
KODE9: 2 far gone
GEL ABRIL: Spells of Yoruba
SENSE CLUB: Tanzglätte
SKACKLETON: Deadman
KYLA: Do you mind (Crazy Cousinz club mix)
SENSE CLUB: Tanzglätte
SHACKLETON: You bring me down
QUANTEC: Ray of hope (A Made Up Sound remix)
SENSE CLUB: Tanzglätte
INTRUSION: Tswana dub (Phase90 restructure)
ANDOMAT 3000 & JAN: Entr'acte music
JOE: Claptrap
ELGATO: Tonight
SAMIM FT. BIG BULLY: Paspd
SAMIM & ARGENIX: El sabor
SENSE CLUB: Tanzglätte
ALEJANDRO VIVANCO: Madre tierra
BRUNO PRONSATO: The river
EFDEMIN: Just a track
FLYING RHYTHMS: Dragon balls (Betty Botox edit)
ARMAND VAN HELDEN: Witch doktor (dark ages mix)
RADIO SLAVE: Bell clap dance (Sebo K remix)
SENSE CLUB: Tanzglätte
CARLOS PERÓN: Et (Betty Botox edit)
DEEPCHORD: Vantage isle (Convextion remix)
QT: Hey qt

MIXES // 2014

L'Internationale(Turkish "Enternasyonal")

~ Significant low and sub frequency content. Please use full range headphones or speakers ~

An electroacoustic arrangement of one of the few remaining instrumental pieces written by the enigmatic Ottoman composer Dilhayat Kalfa (ca 1710-1780). 

Written and performed in 2018, Müselles Saz Semâisi was requested by the MATA Jr. Music Festival in which I had taken part as a faculty member.

Composed for the talented flutist Jonah Murphy. 

Stereo recording of the premiere performance. 

All rights reserved.

Müselles Saz Semâisi

Müselles Saz Semâisi (2018)

Listen to released albums at ianpowerOMG.bandcamp.com.

bind me, take me, amplifier, humidifier

Ian Power