Unité, an eleven minute piece for soprano and chamber ensemble, is a setting of selections from Pensées by Blaise Pascal (1623-1662). Left unfinished at the time of Pascal’s death and subsequently published posthumously in a variety of forms and editions, Pensées is a complex work of prose, with
sections in the manuscripts consisting only of unordered fragments and incomplete thoughts on a variety of philosophical and religious topics. From this source, I arranged a selection from two fragments into a free verse setting, consisting of five sections, and set these sections to music.

The first, third, and fifth sections are taken and adapted from one fragment, while the second and fourth sections are taken from another. Arranged in this arch form, the latter fragment is positioned so as to intrude upon the original fragment. The original is a consideration of infinity, while the second describes the finite nature of humankind and the futility of longing for the past or future — temporal horizons we cannot reach. In the fifth and final section, the original fragment considers humankind’s position in the infinite, and the paradoxical concept of an infinite soul residing in a finite body. As arranged in the piece, the human, finite perspective of existence interrupts the contemplation of the infinite “universal being,” until both the finite and the infinite are unified in a mysterious harmony in the fifth section, which Pascal can only describe as “incredible.” Reflecting this structure, the piece is divided into five continuous movements. The “infinite” topic of movements one, three, and five is characterized by smooth melodies in the voice and a recurring static chord, each note fading in and out of the texture, out of phase with the rest: “this is a point moving everywhere at infinite speed; for it is one in all places and is wholly in each place.”

Contrastingly, the second and fourth movements consist of more disjunct motion, rapid trills and accelerating notes, as if grasping for what is yet to come: “We scarcely ever think of the present; and if we think of it, it is only to take light from it to arrange the future.” Just as the separate streams of the text join into a unified conclusion in the fifth section, so too does the previous musical material coalesce, bringing together the disparate texts and sounds into a final accord.

The modern French translation of Pascal’s manuscripts were prepared by Dr. Dominique Descotes of Université Blaise Pascal (France), as found on the research database www.penseesdepascal.fr.; it is used with kind permission.

This piece served as my thesis for my MM Composition degree from Bowling Green State University, and was written while studying with Dr. Mikel Kuehn. Many thanks to him and all who performed, shaped, and otherwise contributed to the piece's development!

Written October 17, 2015 through January 21, 2016

Premiered February 4, 2016 in Bryan Recital Hall, Bowling Green State University, Ohio

Ensemble:
Hillary LaBonte: soprano
Paul Mizzi: flute/alto flute
Nick Zoulek: alto saxophone
Erin Cameron: B-flat clarinet/bass clarinet
Jen Meister: percussion
Emily Custer: piano
Kalindi Bellach: viola
Aleks Tengesdal: cello
Maria Mercedes Diaz Garcia: conductor

Cover art: Jonathan Richardson


Unité for soprano and chamber ensemble - live recording (2016)

Chords/Lyrics: http://bgcovenant.org/dwell/

Friends dying, families hurting and a church with a broken heart.

I wrote this song during a time of deep sadness as a way of lifting my eyes to heaven and finding peace in the midst of darkness.

As we follow Jesus, pain and suffering isn't something that we need to push to the side or explain away. This worldview we call Christianity says clearly and plainly that this planet is plagued by a curse. Things have gone wrong.

The Christian should rightly hate to see things go wrong in this world; but he should never be surprised by it. Even God is moved to tears by the disease and violence that we walk through, but he isn't taken off guard by it.

When the Psalmist walks through "the valley of the shadow of death," he isn't referring to a short season of hardship, but a life of brokenness. Being born into a place where all things die.

Walking in a world like that, means reminding ourselves constantly of the World beyond the world. The House beyond our house.

Trusting in Jesus does not take the pain of this life away.

Jesus wept.

Trusting in Jesus opens our eyes to a different way of living - as pilgrims, as sojourners. As weary but content travelers barreling toward paradise, arm in arm through an earthly existence that oscillates between bitter and sweet - yesterday a living hell, tomorrow a wedding feast, and today something in between.

- Greg Jenkins

Dwell

https://thomasrexbeverly.com/collections/electronics/products/sitka

PROGRAM NOTE:

Sitka is a twelve-minute work for piano and seasonally variable electronics that explores the relationship between music, technology, and nature. Since Steinway piano soundboards are made exclusively from Sitka spruce, the trees and the forests in which they grow served as the conceptual material for many of the piece’s musical components. Environmental elements including forest density, weather, and the Sitka tree’s shape informed the composition’s structure, density, frequency spectrum, rhythmic activity, and live electronics.

The composition’s form models the United States Geological Survey species range map for Sitka spruce trees, which grow throughout Alaska, Canada, and the United States. Curiously, when the map is rotated ninety degrees it becomes a fitting graphical depiction translatable into musical form. The piece’s growth and rhythmic density mirror this graphic, as does the rhythmic language, with more active rhythms appearing at times when tree growth is denser in corresponding map regions. In addition to conceptual translations, I connect the piece to Sitka, Alaska, in real time via an audio software program I developed using Cycling 74’s Max/MSP. The program polls real-time weather data from a weather station in Sitka, Alaska during performance, which in turn influences the piece’s accompanying live electronics. For example, when polling on a sunny summer day, the software generates higher pitched sonorities to create a light, open sounding accompaniment. Conversely, on a cold winter day the live electronics exhibit a darker, denser tone. These and other live electronics are projected over small speakers placed in front of the piano, mixing with the acoustic sound and emanating from the same physical space.

Sitka for piano and seasonal electronics

Robert Ragoonanan, cond.
Paul Mizzi, flute
Erin Cameron, bass clarinet
Aleksander Tengesdal, cello
Jacob Sandridge, piano
Michael Keller, percussion

Recorded March 4, 2016, BGSU Graduate Student Conference. Storm-maker/dream-maker integrates opposing melodic segments that work against one another throughout the piece. The duality in the title is a depiction of this conflict. Storm-maker/dream-maker was premiered in June 2015 at the Charlotte New Music Festival by the Great Noise Ensemble. The premiere included a dance collaboration with choreographer Jaclyn O'Toole.

Jacob Sandridge

storm-maker / dream-maker

I contributed this looping electroacoustic track to my brother's installation video piece, Kairos. Since it is designed to loop seamlessly in a gallery, the piece both begins and ends in a rather abrupt way. The link below leads to a short video of the 15-minute looping piece and to several images from the installation. 

http://www.jon.therichardsonbrothers.com/?p=46

Kairos | 7.5’x15′ | Video Installation and Mixed Media | 2016

Installed in the Draewell Gallery from April 9 – 16, 2016. 

Awarded “Outstanding Achievement in Fine Art” by the Judson University School of Art, Design, and Architecture.

Kairos (2016)

Performers: Bux-Mont Honors Chorus, November 4, 2016

TEXT
Canticum, et in terra pax hominibus
Cantate voce consona
Cantate omni creaturae
Cantate in laetitia
Cantate cum pace

TRANSLATION
Chant/sing, and on earth peace among men
Sing with one voice
Sing every creature
Sing for joy
Sing with peace

Score: https://issuu.com/matthewramage/docs/canticum_8.5x11

Canticum

Matthew Ramage