For orchestra and electronics
Commissioned by IRCAM and Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France;
Conductor: Pascal Rophé;
Electronics developed in collaboration at IRCAM with Etienne Démoulin;
Electronic part performed by Etienne Démoulin;
Recording engineer: Luca Bagnoli
Live recording at Maison de la Radio et de la Musique as part of Manifeste 2023;
Date: June 23, 2023.

"T   O       R             N" is an exploration of various psychological and emotional states resulting from inner and outer conflicts, namely the state of uprootedness, while longing and yet, failing to put down roots elsewhere, or the sense of uncertainty, predicament, and hollowness caused by personal or collective traumas; experiences that can haunt us for long periods of time, if not permanently…
The piece navigates continuity, interruption and the space between them. Within larger continuous sections, smaller segments with timbral, harmonic, gestural, and dynamic contrast invade the space and create fissures. These fissures may provide a temporary release from the preceding tension, while retaining residues from the previous section, and simultaneously, bearing the initial traces of the
upcoming section. At times, the electronics are treated as a magnifying mirror that echo and expand the orchestra. In other cases, they defy it as a disruptive force with contrasting dynamic or timbral qualities.

Image: "Silence" by Johann Heinrich Füssli

T   O       R             N

Aufhebung - Jonas Baes

Unsuk Chin 	
cosmigimmicks (extrait)
Pantomime musicale, pour sept instrumentistes
Ensemble intercontemporain
Bruno Mantovani, direction
Enregistré en direct à la Philharmonie de Cologne le 04.05.2017

Unsuk Chin, cosmigimmicks (extrait)

Premiered at the Ann E. Pitzer Center in Davis, California on 4/12/17
Harp - Jennifer Ellis
Electronic patch built by Derek Kwan in Pure Data

Parallax Oblivion for Harp and Live Electronics

Winner of the 2019 League of Composers/ISCM Steven R. Gerber Composition Prize http://leagueofcomposers.org/blog

Performed by Ensemble Dal Niente, 1 November 2018, Davis, CA.
Cond. by Christian Baldini.

My initial sketches for this work meditated on the idea of musical "maps" in various forms, such as mapping characteristics of one melody or harmony onto another. This led to experiments with what I thought of as "navigational performance maps." Since the piece was initially intended to be performed without a conductor, separate players would take turns leading the rest of the group forward as the work progressed, coloring the journey with their own idiosyncrasies. I tried (and mostly failed) to avoid recapitulation in the work; i.e., instead of an A-B-A, form, to instead use A-B-C-D-E- (and on), so that it ends in a different place than it began. The title comes from Martin Waldseemüller's 1507 map Universalis Cosmographia.

LINK TO SCORE: https://issuu.com/danielgodsil/docs/cosmographia_finalscore-fixed2

Cosmographia (2018) for chamber ensemble

Landing, for string quartet. Composed June-October, 2018. Premiered at CNMAT by Quatuor Tana, November 11, 2018.

Dedicated to Livi Spencer, Olivia Lerwick, and Madeleine Lyon, and to all my friends who inspire my music and enrich my life.

Landing

As I was writing anatomies of fragile things, I was thinking a lot about the complex and colorful patterns on the wings of butterflies, and in the sound world of this piece I wanted to capture their intricacy and fragility. The work opens with a swirl of gently descending runs in the piano and violin, which are interrupted by a plaintive oboe melody. Distant, celestial chords emerge in the top octave of the piano, as the violin and oboe interject with tremolos and fragments of melodies. In the middle section, the falling lines from the beginning are distorted: where before they were fragile constellations of sound, now they’re now jagged and syncopated. The final section returns to the music from the beginning, and the work closes with a long, sustained harmony fading to nothing.

Premiered November 2018 by Julia Simpson, oboe, Angela Bae, violin, and Wesley Ducote, piano at Shepherd School of Music Fall Composer's Forum

anatomies of fragile things (2018) for oboe, violin, and piano

Based on "Prayer" by Atom Yarjanian, aka Siamanto.

Written for and premiered by the Pogossian/Manouelian family:
Clarinet: Anoush Pogossian
Violins: Movses Pogossian and Varty Manouelian
Viola: Cara Pogossian
Cello: Eddie Pogossian
April 23, 2020. Los Angeles, California

Blood Moon

After Spring

Written in Summer 2020 for the Percussive Arts Society Composition Contest. Snarinet is an experimental piece that strips away 21st century pop music to its base form: a sick beat and some groovy licks. Though the timbre and purpose of the clarinet and the snare drum highly differ in the concert setting, this piece shoves two unlikely allies together. You may argue that this idea was an absolute mistake. I say I’ve already written it and it’s going to be performed anyways. What are you gonna do about it? Why don’t you eat a Snickers? This piece is dedicated to Joseph W. Stork

Snarinet(Oct 2020 Premiere)

Composer from SF Bay Area, currently residing in Sacramento.

Parallax Oblivion for Harp and Live Electronics

Josiah Tayag Catalan