Ken Ueno, extended vocals; Boston Modern Orchestra Project; Gil Rose, conductor

On a Sufficient Condition for the Existence of Most Specific Hypothesis (2008)
Commissioned by the Boston Modern Orchestra Project.

This piece was made possible by a grant from the JebehiahFoundation: New Music Commissions. 
It is dedicated to Rob Amory

The composing of On a Sufficient Condition for the Existence of Most Specific Hypothesis represents my first attempt to reconcile the multiplicity of my being a "classical" composer and "experimental" improviser. It is one of the most personal pieces I have composed to date.

In a manner akin to the way some contemporary visual artists make site-specific works, many of my works derive their structural aspects from considerations of the special instrumental skills of the performers with whom I have collaborated, in a manner I term "person-specific.' First, I imagine the sounds and then worked them out with collaborating performers to realize these sounds on their instruments. Then, I analyze the sounds using software in order to derive parametric data that will inform the structure of the music. (I am also inspired by the way contemporary architects use modern materials and computer-aided strategies to create structures that are more organic than what was previously possible).

On a Sufficient Condition for the Existence of Most Specific Hypothesis is person-specific to myself. As a vocalist, I specialize in such techniques as: overtone singing (straight bi-tonal style), throat singing (a style with laryngeal straining), multiphonics, circular breathing, sub-tones and extreme high register. During the composition of this piece, I subjected my singing to the aforementioned process of analysis, deriving harmonies (e.g. acoustic resynthesis of my vocal multiphonics) and orchestrational strategies from the analysis of my singing.

To further engage with my personal history in this piece, I employed two other strategies. First, the title of this piece comes from an article on computer science written by another Ken Ueno (I found it doing a "vanity" search in Google). In usurping the title of a work by my doppelganger, I thought of Borges' story Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius in which an encyclopedic reference to a fictional universe begins to infiltrate reality. Second, the piece begins with a boombox playing a recording of my voice from when I was six. When I was six, my favorite object was a tape recorder. I used to walk around documenting my mom yelling at my brother, as well as sounds I made vocally (some evocative of sounds I still like to make today). By incorporating these recordings in the beginning of the piece makes it a kind of recapitulation of performances from my childhood over thirty years ago. My plan is to make another version of this piece thirty years from today by incorporating vocal sounds I can make today mixed with those from my childhood. My greatest hope would be able to make two more iterations of this process during my lifetime.

On A Sufficient Condition For The Existence Of Most Specific Hypothesis

(X)igágáí (2011) 18min
(fl, ob., 2 cl, bsn, Bb trpt, hrn, trmb, 2 perc, piano, vln, 2 vla, cello, bs)
Premiere: April 11, 2011. Le Poisson Rouge, NY, NY. Alarm Will Sound. This piece was commissioned by Meet The Composer for premiere performance by Alarm Will Sound.

(X)igágáí

The Hilliard Ensemble

Shiroi Ishi (2001)
Text and music by Ken Ueno 
Composed for the Hilliard Ensemble

 TEXT:					TRANSLATION:

SHIro i   iSHI					White stone				

Tsukiyo  no  umi   ni  SHIzumu		Sinks into a moon-lit ocean

Sono toki hamon wa				That moment, the ripples are

Nagare boSHI  no  kage			shadows trailing a shooting star.

 
The first syllable "SHI" of the word "shiro" (white) has multiple meanings: 

1): Four - for the number of performers.
2): Death.
3): Poetry.

This syllable acts as a link between the worlds of pitch and noise/timbre, 
as well as word and sound.  Structurally, each successive occurrence of this syllable opens a window of evocation to previous occurrences - the white stone passing into another existence synchronistically being related to another transient moment, that of a shooting star.  

The relationship of the stone and the ripples (and the shooting star and its shadows) is akin to the relationship between consonants and vowels in the Japanese language.  The whole language is built upon five basic vowels (a, i, u, e, o) which are arranged with different consonants in front of the vowels (ex.: ka, ki, ku, ke, ko, ga, gi, gu, ge, go, etc.).  This means that the same five formants create meaning according to what noise elements (consonants) are affixed to the attack of the sound (every sound has three components: an attack, a middle, and a decay).  There is a modular quality to Japanese language since the phonological aspects are so limited.   In changing the rhythm of words and phrases, in stretching phrases, it is possible to derive or hear different meanings from one phrase.  Even without understanding the Japanese, it is hoped that one can follow the statistical prevalence of certain consonants as a way to following the text (as opposed to following melodic phrases).  It is some kind of common ground between Eastern incantation and modern electroacoustic sounds that I am seeking presently as a discourse in setting my text.

My tumblr blog account of seeing the Hilliard Ensemble's last performance in North America: http://kenueno.tumblr.com/post/74923162326/last-night-in-los-angeles-the-hilliard-ensemble


Shiroi Ishi

from "Further Secret Origins" (Porter Records)

Terra Incognita

recorded at Faust Studio, Scheer Germany 2012.  Erica Dicker, violin; Emily Manzo, piano

Movement 2 - Four Chambered Heart

Jorrit Dijkstra – alto saxophone, lyricon, analog electronics
Phillip Greenlief – alto and tenor saxophones, clarinet
Kyle Bruckmann – oboe, english horn, analog electronics
Frank Gratkowski – clarinet, alto saxophone
Jon Raskin – sopranino, alto and baritone saxophones, analog electronics

Driff Records CD1403 © 2014


Facing Death - Louis Andriessen 
live @ concertgebouw, recital hall

Facing Death - Louis Andriessen

slam creak bzzz for string quartet & electronics: Mivos Quartet

This is the first performance of a tune I wrote in "freevo" style. Thanks to the state of Pernambuco for letting me bastardize their cultural heritage, with love. In this house concert debut, I played cello, Jorrit Dijkstra played alto sax and Kan Yanabe played pandeiro.

Chinderando

Quebra Tudo's first performance in Boston, March 5, 2017. "Ao Velho Pedro" was written by the great Paulo Moura, and spontaneously arranged by the band. Jorrit Dijkstra-alto sax, Kan Yanabe-pandeiro, Catherine Bent-cello.

Veg

jorritdijkstra

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