Track 9 from the album Isolation Journal 2 - breathe by Douglas Schmidt and John Oliver.

Isolation Journal 2 - breathe

Breathing

Track 8 from the album Isolation Journal 2 - breathe by Douglas Schmidt and John Oliver.

Slow Breath

Track 6 from the album Isolation Journal 2 - breathe by Douglas Schmidt and John Oliver.

Noh Breath

Track 5 from the album Isolation Journal 2 - breathe by Douglas Schmidt and John Oliver.

Short Breath

Track 3 from the album Isolation Journal 2 - breathe by Douglas Schmidt and John Oliver.

Giant Breath

Track 2 from the album Isolation Journal 2 - breathe by Douglas Schmidt and John Oliver.

22 Breaths

Track 1 from the album Isolation Journal 2 - breathe by Douglas Schmidt and John Oliver.

Tree Breath

“Meditation for Barbara” is a companion piece for Curtis-Smith's “Rhapsodies." It was commissioned by expert bowed piano soloist Barbara Lieurance in 2012. I use four of the same bows used in that work. Many of my works, from electroacoustic to orchestral, explore resonance, alternate tuning systems, and sonic phenomena in general. My Meditation explores resonances of C, D-flat, F and G. Most of these “notes” are contained in some of the resonances of one another. I’ve added a few techniques not found in the “Rhapsodies,” such as pulling two bows through at once (G, B-flat, D, E), and one lone prepared note. I hope you enjoy the results of this wonderful collaboration with Barbara.

Score can be purchased here: https://gum.co/sXwAY
About me: https://bio.to/johnoliver

Meditation for Barbara

Get the sheet music here: https://gum.co/jvnSuI
More about me: https://bio.to/johnoliver

I wrote Metro Music at the Banff Centre for the Arts in July 1982, and it was first performed there in the Max Bell Auditorium by David MacRae and Greg Murray on July 30. This duo takes a twelve-note row, splits it into three note groups, then ignores the style and language one usually associates with 12-tone music, and instead forges ahead with some groovy minimalist music.

The work is scored for 2 marimbas and one or two vibraphones. Only the second movement calls for two vibraphones, but it may be played on two marimbas if a second vibraphone is not available. If two vibraphones are used, the second movement can be played twice to great effect: the first time on two marimbas, and the second time through on two vibraphones.

Metro Music

Get the sheet music here: https://gum.co/NvRAh
More about me: https://bio.to/johnoliver

Program Note for "From Thunder and Rain to Crossing the Great Stream," the Oliver commission for Beverley Johnston and Salvador Ferreras.

"From Thunder and Rain to Crossing the Great Stream." The title says it all. It is very important. You need read no further. An additional observation appears on the cover of the score: "Out of the Tao, One is born; Out of One, Two; Out of Two, Three; Out of Three, the myriad things." You may also think of this as you listen to the music. 

Taoism is one of the oldest philosophical traditions of China. The Tao means "The Way." The principals  of yin and yang (feminine/masculine, negative/positive) influenced the spirit of the composition, from the choice of instruments, to the deployment of the musical material, to the very performers themselves. The traditional yin/yang symbol shows the transformation of one form of energy into its opposite, and also the existence of a bit of the opposite in any energe-manifestation. Taoism embraces the cycles of life. Enjoy your voyage.

From Thunder and Rain to Crossing the Great Stream

Celestial Storehouse was commissioned by the Orchid Ensemble and performed by them as part of a theatrical presentation called Music of the Heaven which they performed in Vancouver at the Norman Rothstein Theatre on November 23, 2017, and in Kelowna BC on November 31. The current recording comes from the second performance.

The composition is inspired by the following text from the Chuang Tzu:
"Who knows the unspoken explanation, the unexpressed Way? Among those who do know, this is called the celestial storehouse: we can pour into it without
filling it, we can draw from it without exhausting it; and yet, we don't know
where it comes from. This is called hidden illumination."

About me: https://bio.to/johnoliver

Celestial Storehouse

This is a performance on contrabass clarinet by the Italian musician Fabrizio Bardelli which he recorded in his home studio on August 28, 2021 in Tuscany.

Fifth Hour at the Dance Party was commissioned by French saxophonist Serge Bertocchi and premiered by him on November 28, 2012 in Reims, France.

Originally written for Serge's Tubax (a contrabass saxophone), it can also be played on the regular E-flat baritone saxophone, or other arrangements that I made subsequently for (contra-)bass clarinet and double bass.

Thanks to Serge for collaboration and premiere of this work, and to Canadian clarinetist Lori Freedman for suggestions for the contrabass clarinet version.

Fifth Hour At The Dance Party - Fabrizio Bardelli

Remarkably, Douglas and John improvised this music in one take on November 4, 2022. 

"We finished the improvisation, sat back, listened, and were stunned: we had created a symphony in one movement in one take." - John Oliver 

"It would take me months to write out a piece like that for orchestra." - Douglas Schmidt

Symphony No. 1 - Winter

Symphony No 1 - Winter - Part 4

Symphony No. 1 - Winter - Part 1

Symphony No. 2 was improvised in one take on November 19, 2022. After the artistic success of our Symphony No. 1, we decided to try again. The spectacular opening chord set the stage for a long-form, multi-section symphonic work, without an orchestra. 

Symphony No. 2 is intended to be heard as a single listening experience. This track 7 is provided as a bonus track if you buy the whole album. Nevertheless, we provide six parts as individual tracks so listeners can "sample" the different "movements" of the symphony.

Our concept of "symphony" shares the form and vastness of romantic orchestral music, but our concept is inspired by the initial meaning from ancient Greek: "concord of sound."

Symphony No. 2 - Iceberg

Symphony No. 2 was improvised in one take on November 19, 2022. After the artistic success of our Symphony No. 1, we decided to try again. The spectacular opening chord set the stage for a long-form, multi-section symphonic work, without an orchestra. 

Symphony No. 2 is intended to be heard as a single listening experience. You can listen to the whole composition on track 7, which is provided as a bonus track if you buy the whole album. Nevertheless, we provide six parts as individual tracks so listeners can "sample" the different "movements" of the symphony.

Our concept of "symphony" shares the form and vastness of romantic orchestral music, but our concept is inspired by the initial meaning from ancient Greek: "concord of sound."

Symphony No. 2 - Iceberg - Part 5

Symphony No. 2 - Iceberg - Part 4

Symphony No. 2 - Iceberg - Part 3

Symphony No 2 - Iceberg - Part 2

Symphony No. 2 - Iceberg - Part 1

Symphony No. 2 was improvised in one take on November 19, 2022. After the artistic success of our Symphony No. 1, we decided to try again. The spectacular opening chord set the stage for a long-form, multi-section symphonic work, without an orchestra. 

Symphony No. 2 is intended to be heard as a single listening experience. Nevertheless, we provide six parts as individual tracks so listeners can "sample" the different "movements" of the symphony. If you buy the whole album, you get the "bonus track," which is the entire symphony as one track. 

Our concept of "symphony" shares the form and vastness of romantic orchestral music, but our concept is inspired by the initial meaning from ancient Greek: "concord of sound."

Symphony No. 2 - Iceberg - Part 6

Waves 7 is a guitar trio I composed on Feb 10, 2023. It is a three-part canon in my series of guitar trios that are inspired by waves. If you are interested to perform the music, please contact me

Waves 7

Waves 7 Demo

This is a computer demo of a guitar quartet I wrote in 2013 based on a Peteneras I learned as a child. Although it starts with a quotation from the original piece, it goes very far afield! The tempos get a little crazy later in the piece, so real musicians could play slower!

This piece has never been performed. Please message me in the comments if you are interested to obtain the score and parts.

Peteneras Waltz Gtr Quartet 2016 - 1-13 demo

I wrote this music to honour my mentor, Bruce Mather, master of microtonal music. The piece is for harp, and guitar tuned down one 1/4-tone. This allows me to explore the resonance of the "neutral second", an interval between a minor and major second. This is the interval heard between the 11th harmonic of the harmonic series and it's neighbours, the 10th and 12th harmonic. So this is "natural music" that is as "in tune" as the two instruments can manage. (For the microtonal fans, the thirds are still equal-tempered.)

Heidi Krutzen, harp
Adrian Verdejo, guitar

Oliver Hommage A Bruce Mather Premiere (excerpt)

Eternity Gaze is a work in four movements, each of which explores a different musical and cultural space. This is movement one. 1] "Looking Outward Together": the musicians look toward the musical styles of each others' instruments; they slowly slide into jazz-blues as the common ground. 2] "Forgetting Time" is medieval: the erhu plays a seemingly endless melody that ebbs and flows, surrounded by a veil of harmonics and muted notes. 3] "In a Mirror": driving music  combines minor modes with a three-note pentatonic motif. 4] "Here, Now" mixes extended chords and polyrhythms often found in jazz and new music with rising lines on erhu, ending with assertive, happy Beethoven piano arpeggios and an unstable erhu melody that creates a strange dichotomy that reflects our time.

Eternity Gaze, 1 - Looking Outward Together

Eternity Gaze is a work in four movements, each of which explores a different musical and cultural space. This is the fourth movement. 1] "Looking Outward Together": the musicians look toward the musical styles of each others' instruments; they slowly slide into jazz-blues as the common ground. 2] "Forgetting Time" is medieval: the erhu plays a seemingly endless melody that ebbs and flows, surrounded by a veil of harmonics and muted notes. 3] "In a Mirror": driving music  combines minor modes with a three-note pentatonic motif. 4] "Here, Now" mixes extended chords and polyrhythms often found in jazz and new music with rising lines on erhu, ending with assertive, happy Beethoven piano arpeggios and an unstable erhu melody that creates a strange dichotomy that reflects our time.

Nicole Li, erhu
Corey Hamm, piano
John Oliver, electric guitar

from the album Piano and Erhu Project (PEP) volume one

Eternity Gaze, 4 - Here, Now

Oliver performs an excerpt of the Pavanas movement from his new composition. Commissioned by Alan Rinehart.

Dreams Laid Down

Ancient Heroes Suite 01-Pavanas (excerpt)

I wrote this short work for "tubax" as a bit of fun for the wonderful French saxophonist Serge Bertocchi to play in his concerts. I had wanted to create a major work for Serge, but so far, the opportunity has not arisen. So meanwhile, this piece evokes a drugged-out dancer who is really into the music. A tubax is a saxophone that sounds one octave lower than the baritone sax.


Fifth hour at the Dance Party

This is the first in a series of ambient musique concrète albums I am creating based on the I Ching (Chinese book of wisdom and divination). It's an album for deep listening with headphones, or casual listening while studying, painting, writing, etc. I mix sounds from nature with synthesized (electronic) sounds and create continuous movement between the elements.

If you practice divination using the I Ching, then this album would make a good companion to reading the oracle for hexagram 42, "Yi".

TAO-42-WIND

TAO-42-WIND-PART 5

TAO-42-WIND-PART 4

TAO-42-WIND-PART 3

TAO-42-WIND-PART 2

TAO-42-WIND-PART 1

A remix album.

At the age of 21, I wrote a piece for "total piano" (prepared piano, with extensive play on the strings and surfaces inside the piano) called Halloween. It was an instant hit and performed in semi-theatrical productions several times over the years. This new album rips the music into shreds and reassembles them into various new mixes that are sometimes intense, sometimes hypnotic.

This album is best listened to on high-quality headphones or loudspeakers

One October 31, at the age of 21, I decided not to go to a party because of the rainstorm. Instead, I went to my little garage studio, removed all of the panels from my full-sized upright piano, and played long into this night of wandering spirits. I interwove coins between some strings. I plucked, muted, scraped and hit the strings, and struck them with a yarn mallet. I elicited all sorts of vocalisations: invented language, hissing, singing, a scream, to evokes the spirits of the dead. The result was a solo piece for theatrical performer called, simply, "Halloween". It was performed numerous times in its first incarnation by my adventurous fellow student, Allison Voth, to whom the work is dedicated.

This album, Allhallowtide: Souls and Saints Abide is also dedicated to Allison, who wrote recently about her memory of those first performances: "I have nothing but fond memories of performing Halloween.  In fact, I distinctly remember always being both exhilarated and completely drained after performing Halloween - a strange, euphoric sort of high.  How wonderful to hear elements of it remixed.  I love it and it brought me right back to those wonderful days of new artistic discovery and collaboration.  Doing, doing, doing, not knowing where it would lead, but believing in every moment experienced."

Allhallowtide: Souls and Saints Abide is a remix of the elements of the original score.

Allhallowtide: Souls and Saints Abide

Halloween 2

Isolation Journal is a series of reflections on solitude and the relation between human and environment, enacted through layers of electronic music and ecological sound art. The soundscape on a mountain above the village of Ngang Nội, Vietnam, was captured together with acoustic recordings of aeolian lute playing. As a response to the lockdown, Stefan Östersjö shared these files with John Oliver, who has drawn track after track out of these source recordings, as journal entries in the time of the pandemic. 

Watch the youtube video introduction that we made here: https://youtu.be/FYrpFTZ_R_U

In September 2013 I visited the village of Ngang Nội in Bắc Ninh, an area north of Hanoi. I came there to work on an ecological sound art project with Matthew Sansom and the Vietnamese dan tranh player Nguyễn Thanh Thủy. The village, characterized by the large ponds next to the rice fields,  is surrounded by mountains on all sides. When scouting the area in spring the same year, we found that the mountains were full of pathways. Most of them lead to little burial sites. When we talked to people in the village we learnt that the reason for this is that the area is regularly flooded. The mountains are a safe haven for the ancestors, but also hold the tracks that little  children follow on their way to school. I was fascinated by the pathways, and we decided to situate one project on the nearest mountain top. I had brought a đàn đáy, a long-necked Vietnamese lute, and stringed it with extended strings that stretched through the bridge, several meters away around trees further down the slope. This allowed me to play aeolian lute, with harmonics excited by the wind. By alternating the string tension, I can control the pitch of the resulting dense clusters of high harmonics. I returned to the mountain every morning for several days. My recording setup gave me a very detailed representation of the interaction between the wind and my instrument, and of any action I would perform. At the same time my attention was shifting between the background noise of the place and my self-imposed isolation up on the mountain. Certainly, I was isolated but not alone. From all sides, the noise from the surrounding villages was a constant, but distant, presence.

Stefan Östersjö

On hearing Stefan's recordings from a mountain above the village of Ngang Nội, I was struck by the voyage of the ear between the sonic immersion in the wind and the đàn đáy, and the distant buzz of community. Stefan's choice of restrained musical material drew my attention to the colours he was getting from the instrument, the strings, the metal bar (slide). Stefan's delicate and intense noises, and few musical intervals, drew my ear back and forth between his playing and the background sounds of car horns, dogs, birds, the rooster. All sounds became music. I was also reminded of a summer in Guatemala in the high mountain village of Huehuetenango, where a similar soundscape occurred daily. Where there are no highways, but only villages connected by small roads, there is a balance between the sounds of nature and the village activity. 

Stefan and I decided to create this album to celebrate the exploration that comes from deep listening. My role, isolated in my basement during the COVID-19 pandemic, was to find more echoes in his recordings, adding to those that already exist there between his playing and the surrounding villages. By various means of processing the sound, I take the raw materials and create new sound worlds. I hope the listener will experience a kind of magic realism in my transformations of Stefan's recordings.

John Oliver

Earth Spring

Isolation Journal

Forest Floor Perspective

"Abstract Wind 2" is a granular remix of the last few minutes of my orchestral work "Up Wind," commissioned by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra in 2004. I love the transformation!

VISITATIONS

Abstract Wind - 2

Sheet music available here: https://gum.co/kbjPI

"11" (Eleven) was commissioned by Vancouver Pro Musica and first performed on May 28, 2000 at the Granville Island Theatre in Vancouver, Canada. The Sonic Boom Guitar Ensemble conducted by the composer. Duration: approximately 7:10.

My friends and I all grew up with the electric guitar as the instrument of pop culture worship. I wrote this piece for my friends. The great players were gods to us and everything about the instrument and how it was played created a buzz, from Townsend's powerchords and guitar smashing, to Hendrix's chewing and burning. The electric guitar was more than an instrument: it was a talking stick capable of possessing those who dared to plug it in. I spun this piece out of a few little insignificant guitar licks. Rock guitar gods (and wannabes) always set their amplifiers to "11". Long hair and a big attitude is not a requirement to play this piece, but it helps.

Eleven for 9 electric guitars and 2 basses - demo

Award-winning composer & performer John Oliver creates electronic sound art music, writes music for classical musicians of the world, and performs chamber music as a guitarist. His compositions have been performed extensively in his native Canada, as well as in Europe, Asia, and the Americas, and heard worldwide on over 30 commercial and indie recordings.

John Oliver

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