Amazing combination of sounds - great playing!

Recorded by Radio France, engineered/edited/mixed by Elsa Biston, performed by ensemble l'itinéraire, Paris, France.
Ondes Martenot + prepared speakers, bass clarinet, percussion, electronics, acoustic feedback
May 2021

Five Phases for Ondes

Recorded live at the Phillips Collection in Washington, DC on March 23, 2014.

This is the first movement of a forthcoming work by Tawnie Olson, and this is the world premiere.

Meadowlark - Tawnie Olson

for five string instruments and pulse generator
commissioned by Ensemble Modelo62
ww.hugomorales.org

Tonewood

Written April 2016.
Excerpt of live recording at Tectonics, May 2017. 
BBC Scottish Symphony, cond. Ilan Volkov. 
Recording belongs to BBC.

ded. to my parents.

art: 
Camille Pissarro 
Entrée du village de Voisins 
1872

yt: PqTLZetKieY

Ambling, waking (excerpt)

"O ocean of mercy, oft longing I've stood
On the brink of thy wonderful, life-giving flood!
Once more I have reached this soul-cleansing sea,
I will not go back till it rolls over me."

“Salvation (what was needed most)” takes its inspiration from an interview collected by Newfoundland playwright Robert Chafe, where a respondent talks about their memories of Newfoundland’s confederation in 1949 in Carter’s Cove. Both the tone and content of this particular interview resonated with me, as it reminded me of my paternal grandparents who are the same age as the respondent and lived for most of their lives in Triton, just a short boat ride across Notre Dame Bay from Carter’s Cove. 

My grandparents, James and Marie Simms, didn’t have many memories of confederation – just the poverty of a childhood in the region, where Marie grew up in a tilt rather than a house. James recently died, and Marie’s memory is sometimes patchy. After reading through Robert Chafe’s text, I called my grandmother to ask her about her musical memories from 1949. I was hoping to hear about folk music endemic to the region my family is from. Sadly, she told me that she could only remember one song at all: “O Boundless Salvation,” a Salvation Army tune. In honour of my grandparents, this piece is based on that song by William Booth, and all of the material stems from this hymn. Because of this choice of source material, the piece is a somewhat radical departure from my usual musical language, but one that seems appropriate in remembrance and dedication to my father’s parents.

Like most families in the Greenbay South area of Newfoundland, the Simms’ were staunchly religious. They were proud of having ancestors that brought the Salvation Army faith to that part of the island, and indeed most of the former Methodists had been converted “to Army.” They didn’t drink alcohol or sing folk songs – they had a tradition of prayer, hymn, and salvation. And, to hear my grandfather talk about it, that’s what was needed most in such a difficult, impoverished climate: salvation.

Performed December 8 in D.F. Cook Hall by Nancy Dahn (violin), Tim Steeves (piano), and Amy Collyer-Holmes (cello.)

Salvation, or what was needed most (piano trio) ((live performance))

Commissioned and Performed by New Music Concerts
Conducted by Robert Aitken

For this commission, I was asked to write a piece inspired by Claude Vivier’s Zipangu — one of my favourite pieces of music. Vivier’s work has been influential on my music in so many ways — from small technical ideas to overarching themes and extra musical ideas. Like Vivier, I often employ melodies as central components of a composition that guide other compositional decisions. We also share an interest in ritualistic and ceremonial aspects of music. I thought a lot about Vivier, his music and his life while writing the piece, but did not attempt to make explicit connections between my new work and Zipangu.

to dash against darkness is in two movements. It uses more violas and cellos than violins, allowing me to explore the depths of this rich ensemble. I’m interested in distorting musical materials by submerging them into the lower register, as if plunging them underwater, rendering them murky and less clear. This is quite different from much of my music, which tends to reside mostly above middle C.

I always find it strange, and difficult, to give a title to a piece of music. to dash against darkness is a line from an e. e. cummings poem, entitled i will wade out, that reflects what I was thinking about while writing the piece.

to dash against darkness

"mundana v" from mundanas i-v

John McCowen & Madison Greenstone, BBb contrabass clarinets

album available on Edition Wandelweiser on Nov. 30th
www.wandelweiser.de
www.johnmccowen.com

mundana v (2 contrabass clarinets)

And/Or (2019) - 14 musicians and electronics - Turning Point Ensemble - live-recording

This work explores the micro-synchronicity within a pulsation to create timbral and musical situations that are:
organic and/or synthetic,
mechanical and/or lyrical,
symmetrical and/or asymmetrical,
integrated and/or separated,
on-the-beat and/or off-the-beat,



Performers: Turning Point Ensemble
Conductor: Owen Underhill
Electronics: Anthony Tan

And/Or (2019) - 14 musicians and electronics - Turning Point Ensemble

For solo double bass; 2018

Premiered by Adam Scime on November 25, 2019 at Array Space in Toronto. Live recording.

threaded to be bound/unbound

Let Me Breathe, for bass clarinet and electronics. 
Bass clarinet: Chiara Percivati; Electronics: Daniela Terranova
Recorded live in Trieste by Paolo Carrer (Conservatorio 'G. Tartini', 13-11-2019). Commissioned by ACM Chamber Music Trieste (a special thanks to Fedra Florit).

threaded to be bound/unbound

Julia Mermelstein

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