Inspired by cut-up technique as described by Tristan Tzara

2:50

Lullaby

RicksPlund, Nov. 18, 2014, Madsen Recital Hall.  This track meanders a bit, but DEAL WITH IT.  It's an improvisation for crying out loud.  

LIVE ACTIVATION OF AVAILABLE RESONANCES

When you wake up in the morning, but something's not quite right, then you wake up again and realize the first time was a dream.

Morning Edition Theme REMIX

My take on the Morning Edition theme, hope you like it!

Morning Edition Theme

Anne Carson’s beautiful translation of the surviving fragments of Stesichorus’s tale of Geryon, the red monster of Greek mythology, served as the inspiration for ‘Geryoneïs’ (The Song of Geryon). Red Meat (Carson’s title) tells from the monster’s perspective the story of Hercules killing Geryon and his dog and stealing Geryon’s prized herd of red cattle. This Geryon, however, is a pitiable monster and one in appearance only. He is the innocent victim of Hercules’s murderous rampage — the hero and the monster having switched roles.

Geryoneïs was conceived as 16 musical fragments — matching Carson’s 16 fragments of verse — interwoven into a dynamic tapestry of different-each-time textures and harmonies. As with much of my music, I’m especially interested here in overlapping layers that may or may not complement one another, which are well-suited for evoking the kind of jagged non-linearity I associate with the memories of traumatic experiences. Specifically, the competing themes at play are otherness and family, tragedy and heroism, violence and pastoral peace, heaven and hell.

Geryoneïs was commissioned by Akropolis Reed Quintet and premiered on October 20, 2017 at a Babcock Season concert at Sweet Briar College. This was recorded live at that time.

Geryoneïs (The Song of Geryon) (reed quintet)

This recording of the third movement of Septimus was created by the Nova string quartet at the University of North Texas in December 2009. The pitch content is based on the harmonic series of the lowest string of each instrument (C for cello and viola, and G for the violins).


Septimus, III. (string quartet)

This is a performance of Morton Feldman's Why Patterns? at the University of North Texas on Friday, November 13, 2012. The performers are Wayla Chambo, flute, Peter Soroka, glockenspiel, and Josh Harris, piano.

Why Patterns? by Morton Feldman

Magic [tape]

Miniature using various delay process, MacBook Pro internal mic, and various tappings and clickings on the keyboard. And a whistle.

Delaze (fixed media)

I'm a composer. I'm currently an associate professor of music and chair of the music program at Sweet Briar College in central Virginia. I have degrees from Appalachian State University, Brigham Young University, and the University of North Texas. 

My music is grounded in a fascination with visual art, textures, sound spectra, non-linear narratives, and extreme temporal manipulations, and it has been heavily influenced by studio techniques of electroacoustic composers. I've been commissioned by the Barlow Endowment for Music Composition, the Nova Ensemble at UNT, Akropolis Reed Quintet, Virginia Wesleyan University, and many amazing performers. I've composed two feature film scores—King Rat (2017) and HUM (2020), and my concert works have been performed throughout the United States as well as South Korea, and is available on the SEAMUS and Ravello record labels.

Check out additional pieces at my YouTube channel (link below).

Email me at jkharriscomposer@gmail.com

Geryoneïs (The Song of Geryon) (reed quintet)

Joshua Harris